Beyond Seven
by GeneralQuistis-Zhakeena
Summary: What's beyond Final Fantasy VII? Tifa? Rufus? Whatever... Just read. Read & Review, okay? ;)
1. Prologue

Beyond Seven

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

PROLOGUE

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            The six year-old heir of the ShinRa Inc. could clearly sense the air of death lurking around the hospital grounds as he sat alone in the waiting area near the Emergency Room. He wanted to cry; but his heartless father was seated beside him, eyeing him threateningly. "What are you thinking, son? You want to cry? Go ahead and you'll get whippings later on." The President threatened.

The little boy bit his lower lip and looked down uneasily, trying to concentrate on anger rather than sadness.

The little boy clenched his fists, hoping that his father would get away from him for a moment. "I can't take this anymore… my head is aching… I have to cry…" he thought silently as he examined the bloodstains on his blue polo, white blazer and white pants. To his relief, a medical representative from the door of the emergency room called his father over.

The little boy refused to look up the moment his father stood up and patted his head. "Stay here, Rufus." He muttered before he went off to the medical representative and entered the Emergency Room.

Rufus blinked once, remembering the way his father had commanded him to stay where he is at that moment. "How come he sounded like I was a dog or something else?" he thought miserably as tears fell from his eyes. He felt little teardrops fall on his little hands and he cursed himself for crying. "Stop crying, Rufus. If daddy sees you, he's going to do something really bad to you… like keep you away from mommy…" he thought as he wiped his tears away with a shaky hand. He sniffed and looked to his right, and saw 5 nurses and 3 medical representatives rushing to the E.R. with a man on a stretcher. Rufus saw that the man was wailing and that his knee was dislocated. 

Following those people with the injured man was a little girl about Rufus's age with long dark hair and maroon eyes. Before the little girl could enter the E.R., the nurse held her back. "Oh, no, missy. You'll have to wait here." The nurse carried her up and placed her beside Rufus.

"Is my papa going to be okay?" the little girl asked with a worried look in her eyes.

"Yes, that's why he's here." The nurse replied with a kind smile.

The little girl smiled back at the nurse and nodded her head happily.

Rufus looked up at the nurse. "Wh…what about my mommy… is she going to be okay?" he asked.

The nurse turned to the little boy seated beside the little girl and she examined the blonde hair and the blue eyes. "Oh, so you're with President ShinRa?" she asked.

"Y…yes… how's my mommy?" Rufus asked, trying his best to keep his patience.

The nurse was silent for a while but she still tried to keep a straight face as she studied the bloody child. She looked around for any sign of anyone listening, but there was none except for the little girl whom she thought was too young to have too much attention span. The nurse knelt down before Rufus and took his hand. "Tell me, what exactly happened to your mom? We need to know because… because she is going to be in danger if we don't." she said.

Rufus frowned, remembering the incident that happened in the ShinRa Mansion earlier that evening. They were celebrating Rufus's sixth birthday and his mother had just given him a lovely present: a little panther-like animal whom Rufus had named _Dark Nation_.

Rufus was all smiles then, hugging Dark Nation, then Mrs. ShinRa. "Thanks a lot, Mommy. I love ya!" he said. 

His mother hugged him back. "I know, Rufus…" His father had an annoyed look on his face. 

"If you're done, I'm going now." President ShinRa stated flatly, looking at his wife.

The First Lady turned to her husband. "Aren't you going to stay here a little longer just for our Rufus? It's his birthday and you've never been able to attend any party I had prepared for him, not even his first birthday." She said with a pleading look.

The President frowned angrily. "I don't care about birthdays. He's alive, he's well, he's my son and he's your son! And most importantly, HE IS MY HEIR. Now leave me alone because I have to get to an important meeting!" he snapped before he headed for the door.

"What important meeting? You're going to meet your mistresses again, aren't you?" she said with a trembling voice as she flipped a lock of her blonde hair away from her face.

Rufus knew that another argument was coming. He knew all along that his father had mistresses and that he had brothers and sisters outside of the home, and it sickened him. "Hmf… daddy, don't you love mommy?" he asked aloud.

The President and the First Lady stopped bickering as they turned to their only son. "You heard your son, answer his question." She sneered.

"Aha, and now you're telling me to blah blah blah" blah blah blah. 

Rufus clenched his fists as he set Dark Nation to the ground. The little animal rushed behind the curtain as his master froze in his tracks, watching in horror as the President began to beat up the First Lady.

"Don't!" Rufus screamed as he ran to his parents, trying to pull his father away from his mother. "Stay out of this, Rufus! Go to your room!" the President shouted angrily.

"NO! Let go of mommy!" he screamed.

The President got fed up with his son's behavior so he pushed him away and the little boy hit the wall behind them. 

"Rufus!" the First Lady said before rushing to her son.

Rufus was already crying while his mother tried her best to comfort him, trying to mind off the pain she was feeling.

"How dare you! You are just my son! I could just get rid of you anytime I want to! Besides, I have other heirs to choose from, you know?" he said.

"I hate you! You are sick! When I grow up, I am going to make sure that I don't do what you have done! You think that I don't know anything about you? Well I do! I know that you're seeing other women besides mommy! Let me guess, you just married mommy because she's rich and her money will add up to yours, right? And the other reason is me! I am your heir!" Rufus yelled angrily.

The First Lady noticed the dangerous glint in her husband's eyes. Her embrace tightened on her son. "Shh… enough, Rufus… stop it." She whispered, feeling more afraid for her son's life than hers.

"Oh, is that the way you think of me, huh? Well then, don't you know that I try to control the world with money?" the President stated as he pulled out his gun. "And do you also know that I can do it with or without an heir?" he demanded with a maniacal smile.

The First Lady's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh no, you wouldn't…" she whispered.

Rufus felt like shrinking back in fear in his mother's embrace, but his eyes still showed his determination and anger. 

"Hah! Feeling brave I see! Let's just see what happens if I…" stating these, the President loaded the gun. 

"D-DON'T YOU DARE!!!!" the First Lady screamed. 

The President smirked evilly. Rufus hugged his mother tightly. "Oh, yes, I do dare!!!" The President said with a sneer before he pulled the trigger. The bullet was really meant for Rufus, but…

*** 

Rufus looked up at the nurse's eyes. He had this stern facial expression on his face as he recalled his father's words to him before they called up the servants for an ambulance, "Don't you say anything stupid to anybody, you hear…unless you want to be next…"

Rufus shook his head. "Mommy fell down the stairs." He lied.

The nurse knew that the little boy was lying but she didn't say anything more. "Alright," she replied with a gentle smile. She stood up and patted his head gently. "We'll do everything we can, Rufus." She said before she headed for the E.R. again.

The little girl looked at Rufus and examined the look of guilt in his blue eyes. She felt pity for him when she saw tears forming in his eyes, waiting to fall. She smiled gently as she took his bloody hand. "Aw, what's the matter?" she asked with a sweet tone.

Rufus pulled his hand away from her. "Argh! Let go of me! Who are you?" he demanded angrily.

She frowned and slapped his face. "You're mean! I was just trying to help because you looked so sad and… and.. and…" she couldn't go on. She cried.

Rufus sniffed, feeling so ashamed of himself. "O…okay! Enough already! I'm sorry… geez, girls are such crybabies and… and.. and…" he stopped as tears fell from his eyes. He quickly wiped them away with his hands, also wiping blood on them, but he stopped when the little girl handed him a pink floral hanky with the initials T.L. embroidered on the side. "Crying will make you feel better, you know?" she asked with a sweet smile. Rufus was surprised that she had stopped crying already.

Rufus did not touch the hanky so the little girl made a kind effort of wiping his tears and blood away for him. "There, all better?" she asked with a smile.

He looked away. "Daddy shot my mommy," he admitted miserably.

The little girl was surprised. "You mean he took a picture of her? What's so horrible about that?" she asked.

Rufus wanted to laugh but he didn't. "No, he didn't… he… oh never mind… I'm sure you wouldn't understand because," he turned to her and examined her clothing and the way she looked. "You're from the lower class." He said, crinkling his nose. 

The little girl looked at him annoyingly. "NO! I am SO the smartest in my class, you know!!!" This made Rufus slap his forehead. 

"Aw, for pete's sake…" he muttered. "I mean, you're not as rich as I am! And not as smart, I can tell!!!" 

"Oh, pooh-pooh! I'm only in kindergarten!" she snapped.

Rufus scratched his head. He never went to school; he had private tutors.

Then, the doctor came out of the E.R. with a smile on his face. "Miss Lockheart," he said.

The little girl looked up at the doctor. "Hello, Mister Doctor Sir! Is my papa okay now?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, Miss Lockheart. C'mon, he wants to see you," the doctor said as he took the little girl's hand to help her stand up.

Before the little girl could move away, she dropped her hanky onto Rufus's lap on purpose. She winked at him. "Everything will be alright," she said before she and the doctor entered the E.R.

Rufus was in awe as he looked at the hanky. "It's pink…" he thought as he examined it.

He was interrupted when the door of the E.R. opened once again. Rufus's eyes grew wide upon seeing his father with a cross look. Rufus immediately hid the hanky inside his pocket and pretended that he was not doing anything.

The President approached his son and dragged him up. "Let's go home," he muttered with a stern tone.

"Where's mommy?" Rufus asked.

"She's asleep." The President replied.

"Can I see her?" Rufus asked.

"No. You cannot see her and you never will." He replied roughly. 

Rufus stopped in his tracks, surprising his father. He looked up at him with angry eyes. "…. She's dead, isn't she?…" he asked. 

The President gritted his teeth, patience thinning by the second, but didn't reply. "C'mon, we have to go now…" 

Still, Rufus didn't move. "Tell the truth, dad! She's dead, isn't she?!?! You killed her, right?!?!?!?" he demanded, making other people stare at them. 

"Shut up, you spoiled brat!!! Let's just go, all right?!" 

"NOT until you tell me!!!" Rufus screamed. 

The President grunted. He knelt beside Rufus, then suddenly grabbed his shoulders and shook them violently. "You're friggin' mother's dead, all right?! THAT'S JUST IT! She died! Nothing you, or me, or those idiots can do about it! She died, Christ took her, God took her, for all I know, Satan took her, SHE DIED!!!" he roared, and then stood back up. "Now, c'mon!" he walked out, after shooting dangerous glares at the other patients and doctors watching them.

At their limousine, the President made a few phone calls using his PHS while Rufus stared at the window, watching the sceneries pass by. He then caught a glimpse at the little girl who talked to him in the waiting area, with her father limping beside her. He felt jealous of her simple but happy life. He pulled her hanky out of his pocket, but put it back, before anybody else could see it.  

"… I hate my life…" he sniffled, making his father look at him. He looked back, but this time, there was coldness in his eyes.


	2. Beyond Seven Chapter One

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter One

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            "Am I dead?" he thought.

"No, you're not." A girl's voice.

He could recognize that voice from somewhere in his memory, but he was not sure… until he saw the girl standing beside him, looking down at him with a smile.

"You," he frowned. He had this urge to move away from her, but he didn't. "Aren't you the Flower Girl?" he asked with a mean look.

"Yes," she replied simply.

He clenched his fists. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Cloud Strife?" he asked.

She looked down, her eyes reflecting sadness as she shook her head sadly. "I can't be with him," she replied simply with a disappointed tone.

He stared up at her. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're near the Lifestream." She answered. 

He rubbed his temples, while trying to stand up. "… Near the Lifestream? Then… I'm near death." He said aloud, but he fell on his knees, feeling so weak. 

To his surprise, the Flower Girl reached out a helping hand to him and helped him stand up. She had this kind smile on her face, but her eyes reflected sadness and disappointment.

Rufus refused to take her hand and he stood up all by himself.

"I knew you could do it," she said.

He frowned. "Do what?" he asked.

"Stand up by yourself without anyone's help. You always have, Rufus." She replied.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I thought you knew me as the Flower Girl?" she asked.

"Your name." He stated.

"Aerith Gainsborough. And you are Rufus ShinRa." She said with a sweet smile on her face.

His eyes narrowed at her. "And as you were saying?" he asked.

Aerith had this serious look on her face. "…But can you stand up again after you fall this time?" she asked with a challenging tone.

Rufus was surprised when he suddenly lost his balance and he fell on his butt. "Ow! Dammit!" he cursed angrily. He looked up at Aerith but she was not there anymore. "Wh…where is…" he was about to ask, but he turned around when he heard her voice from behind him. "Can you?" she asked, her tone getting stiffer.

Rufus frowned at her as he tried to stand up. "What are you trying to imply?" he demanded.

She simply smiled at him. "Can you tell Cloud to wait for me?" she asked with a sweet tone.

He was about to say something more, but she disappeared and rain began to pour down. He looked up at the dark skies. "Aerith!" he called out. He felt panicky when he discovered that he could not stand up anymore. "Aerith!" he shouted.

"No one's ever seen you bleed before, but right now, you are bleeding," she chanted from somewhere.

"She's teasing me," he thought angrily as he examined himself, searching for signs of blood, but there was none.

"I'm not bleeding…" he realized.

"You're bleeding but you don't know it because you have blinded yourself because of your fear." 

…


	3. Beyond Seven Chapter Two

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Two

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He could taste water.

"Rain…" he thought. But how come it tasted bitter?

"Water with blood… No! What if it's piss?" he thought in panic as he forced himself to stand up from the rubble. There was no rain. The sunlight blinded him for a moment before he had time to adjust his vision. He coughed a little so he covered his mouth. He looked around then, to his hand which he used to cover his mouth. He frowned at the sight of blood… but what really caught his attention was the toilet bowl beside him from where he had emerged from the rubble.

"My GOD!" He spit furiously. "I drank… piss?!" He took another look around. Nobody in sight. 

He observed his surroundings as he fell on his knees, feeling so weak all of a sudden. "How long has it been?" he thought as he continued to observe his surroundings. To his awe, he saw 3 familiar-looking people standing by one of the ruined pillars. 

"So… this is the end of ShinRa. I never thought I'd live long enough to see it…" he heard one of them say in a rather slurred way. 

"……………."

"So sad… and Tseng's gone too…" 

Rufus's eyes lit up upon recognizing the three. "E…Elena! Rude! And… and… Reno!" he called out, waving his hand as he tried to stand up.

The three looked up. "I think Rufus is haunting this place, let's go," Reno muttered with a ridiculous smile on his face.

Elena turned around, searching for the place where the voice came from. "President Rufus?" she called out.

"Elena, I'm over here!" Rufus called out, waving at her.

Rude tapped Elena's shoulder and pointed at to the north. Reno and Elena turned to the direction where Rude was pointing. "Am I seeing ghosts?" Elena asked as she took a few steps backward.

"Ghosts don't bleed, dammit! Let's go!" Reno said, running ahead of the two.

Rufus put down his hand. "Finally! I think those idiots thought that I was a ghost or something else," he thought miserably.

"President Rufus! Is that you?" Reno asked.

Rufus eyed him angrily. "What do you think, you nitwit?" he snapped.

Reno turned to Elena and Rude and to his surprise, Elena just grabbed his hand and Rude's hand and jumped around happily with them, making the three boys stare at her in awe. "Oh, I can't believe he's alive! He's alive! He's alive!" she chanted.

"Stop that, it's annoying!" Rufus snapped.

Elena let go of the two and rushed to Rufus and knelt down beside him. "Is that really you, President Rufus?" she asked with teary eyes.

Rufus clenched his fists, trying to keep his patience. "Yes, it's me, Elena," he muttered with a sneer. However, Elena didn't care if he was about to scold her or something. She grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him violently. "You're alive! I can't believe it! I mean… I mean it's been 3 months and… and…" her tears fell. "Oh, President Rufus! I just can't believe you're alive!" she said happily.

Rufus blinked. "3 months?" he asked.

Rude nodded. "Yessir, 3 months, since the building exploded. Everyone else who lived just left you for the dead." 

Everyone was surprised that Rude actually said something. Reno cleared his throat and said, "Uh… yeah… so, you all right, Prez?" 

Rufus inhaled sharply, and then he stood up. But, he fell back down; he was still so weak. 

To the Turks' surprise, they saw the blood on the President's right leg, spreading across the white fabric of his pants. "Oh no…" Elena said in disbelief.

Rude and Reno ran to the young president and helped him up. "Let's get him out of here before his condition worsens." Reno stated. 

"But where are we going to take him?" Elena asked.

"Nibelheim. It's the safest place for him." He replied.

"It's too far from here, I'm gonna bleed to death you ninny!" Rufus snapped, suddenly feeling dizzy. For a reason, Elena, Reno and Rude were relieved when Rufus suddenly lost his consciousness. "You know what, I kinda missed his name-calling." Elena admitted.

"Yeah, but anyway, let's go before anyone sees us." Reno said.

"What if somebody recognizes him?" she asked with a frown.

The three were quiet for a while. "Can't we just take him to the hospital for a while? He's right; he might bleed to death before we reach Nibelheim." Elena said. 

Reno spat out: "No, you idiot! This is Midgar? You know, the place he wrecked? You think the people here would just say, 'Oh, it's President Rufus, the man who ruined our lives! C'mon, let's help him, he might bleed to death!' Yeah right, you think we'd hear that from someone here?" 

Elena looked down for a while and suddenly, she had an idea. "We have to hide him." She said as she removed her blazer and placed it around Rufus's shoulder. Then, she got her hanky and folded it into a bandana and placed it on Rufus's head. "There. If somebody asks, tell them she's our granny." She said with a funny smile on her face.

"You think someone would believe us? It's obvious that he's a male." Reno snapped.

"Oh yeah?" Elena asked.

"Yeah! Look, do you see any Tifa Lockheart-like boobs here?" Reno demanded, referring to Rufus's chest.

Rude smacked the back of Reno's head. 

"Ow!" Reno reacted.

"Who's there?"

The three froze when they heard someone's voice from behind them. They turned around and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, we're lost and our Granny's… uh… I mean… Granny Ruffie needs to go back to Nibelheim because she wants to die there," Elena replied, crossing her fingers from behind her back.

It was a guard.

The guard nodded and studied the three. "I see… well then, your granny looks pretty young to me… and isn't she a bit too masculine to be a granny?" he asked.

"Oh, ya know, she had her gender changed when she was younger. She was once a male." Reno explained with a wink.

"I hope that Rufus is really knocked-out cold… if he just heard everything, he's really going to kick our asses…" Rude thought while trying to mind off everything.

"Okay… geez, just go. She's bleeding to death. You sure you don't need help?" the guard asked.

"No, we can manage," Elena replied before they headed off.

The guard shook his head. "This is a sick sad world…" he muttered.


	4. Beyond Seven Chapter Three

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Three

__________________________________________________________________ 

            Tifa closed the door of her house. She smiled particularly to no one, apparently because she had a good feeling that work would be good. She started on her way to her new bar in Nibelheim. After all the ruckus with Sephiroth, she chose to have a job, rather than to live with her old gang. She needed a break from everything, and living again in her old home was it. 

The sun was already setting; evening was close. She smiled at everyone she met, and they were glad that Tifa was living there again. On her way to work, she always passes by at the Old ShinRa mansion, the place where, as a little girl, she and her childhood friends stared at the 'really really rich people' living in there. But to her surprise, a faint light could be seen through the second floor window. She raised an eyebrow at this, for even at the times that Vincent was asleep in there, nobody ever used the lights. 

Not really caring this time, she walked a few more steps to the bar where she worked. The bar was owned by this rich nobleman who just settled in that little provincial town. The moment the nobleman had finished building the bar, the reconstruction of the ShinRa mansion took place. Tifa asked why the remaining old servants of the ShinRas would even bother to rebuild the old mansion, and her boss replied, "Oh ya know, in honor of the young President who died. They're gonna look for his body and they're gonna bury him inside."

Tifa thought of that as absurd. "Oh well, after all, I think Rufus was really something special for some of the servants," she thought as she finally entered the bar and greeted her boss. "Good evening, Miss Lockheart," he greeted. He was rather old, about 67 but he was still active.

"Good evening, sir." Tifa greeted back before she headed for the dressing room.

Her job at that bar? She's a bartender and at the same time, she would go up the stage and sing with the piano and sometimes, the sax… or whatever instrument played together.

"Hey, Tifa," her co-worker greeted.

"Hi," Tifa greeted with a smile.

"Have you heard the latest news?" the redhead asked.

"What latest news?" Tifa asked.

"They've found the ShinRa brat's body." The redhead replied.

"ShinRa brat?" Tifa laughed. "Where did they find it? They went down to hell and took it away?" she joked.

"No, really, this is serious. Didn't you see the 3 Turks passing by and they were carrying this body of a woman with them?"

"No. And Rufus is a man, not a woman." Tifa replied.

"That's what they said, coz the Turks had him disguised so that no one would stop them and mash the body into bits! They said that it doesn't even look like a corpse." 

"Oh whatever." Tifa muttered, feeling so uninterested in the topic. "So, what's on the playlist tonight?" she asked.

"Mostly jazzy tunes." The redhead replied.

"Not again…" Tifa thought.

*** 

            Rufus woke up with a start. To his surprise (and disgust) he was in his old home, where his mother was murdered, with the Turks around him, half asleep. 

"Wha… what the bloody hell?…" he muttered. 

Elena snapped back to consciousness the minute she had heard this. She had fallen asleep while guarding him. "Oh, good evening, your excellency!" she greeted with a sheepish smile.

Rufus tried to get up but he felt extreme pain from his injured leg. "Oh shit!" he muttered in annoyance.

"Just lay back, sir. You're still not well." She said.

Rufus felt the heat around the room. "I thought my room's air-conditioned?" he demanded.

"Uh… we're still trying to fix it. We just rebuilt this place. Tomorrow, they're certain that the air-conditioners would work already." She explained.

"Well then open the window!" he commanded.

Elena nodded and rushed to the window. She opened it to let the cool evening air in. Rufus felt the cool breeze hitting his face and he somewhat calmed down. He recalled the days when he and his mother would sit by the window before bedtime and she would read him bedtime stories about faraway castles. During the process, the First Lady would leave the window open and Rufus usually loved the cool evening breeze of Nibelheim. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Reno and Rude wake up, yawning.

Rufus made a face. "Cover your mouths when yawning, it's annoying to look at your big mouths!" he snapped.

"Gee… sorry sir," Reno replied.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves if you're supposed to guard me and then you fell asleep!" Rufus stated with a threatening look on his face.

As much as Elena, Reno and Rude would hate to admit it, they missed that look in Rufus's eyes. "I think they're deranged. How come they're not replying?" Rufus thought as he scratched his head.

He looked out the window again. "Look, you jerks are probably tired of looking after me… why don't you get out of here or something… take a break… I need to think…" 

A little bit groggy and surprised at this remark, the Turks managed to stand up and salute. Then, they ran out the room. 

Once he was alone, Rufus flipped his hair back and looked back out the window. He inhaled the cool night breeze, and listened to the Nibelheim folk create the usual night noise. He missed those days, when he and his mother would talk about how their day went. But, this noise was different, Rufus thought. Because, this time, he heard light jazz music from somewhere near. 

He frowned slightly, thinking, "How am I supposed to sleep if there's someone singing from somewhere in the world?" he tried to stand up, and suddenly, he remembered what Aerith had told him.

_You can't stand up_.

"Yes, I can," he muttered before he had finally managed to stand up on his own two feet. "Now, to walk to the damned window…" he thought as he tried his best to walk like nothing hurts. He finally made it to the window and after he did so, he recalled Aerith's other words: "Can you tell Cloud to wait for me?"

"How the hell am I supposed to find that spiky-headed jerk?" he thought. He sat on the windowsill and looked down from where he is. "It doesn't look so high than from the last time I looked…" he thought. Then, he searched the little town from where he is and finally settled his gaze on the new bar near the house. "I thought so," he muttered. 

*** 

            Tifa bowed after a song. The audience applauded excitedly, demanding an encore. Tifa was nervous at first, but something from deep inside her gave her courage to sing another song. "Okay then… this one is for…" she trailed off, remembering Cloud. She clenched her fists as she tried to blink back her tears away and smiled back at the audience. "This one is for those who have loved and lost." She said with trembling voice.

*** 

            Rufus leaned his head against the windowsill as he listened to the song. Whoever was singing had a lovely voice and he somewhat felt relaxed upon listening to it, like all of his past troubles had faded away; even though he knew that once the singing stops, everything will turn to black once again.

The song was familiar to him but this time it sounded different because the pitch was meant for a girl. He waited for a star to fall while listening to the words,

"…I'm not, not sure, not too sure how it feels to handle everyday. Like the one that just passed in the crowds of all the people… remember today, I've no respect for you, and I miss you, love. And I miss you, love…"

What caught his attention was the line after the instrumental break _"I love the way you love, but I hate the way I'm supposed to love you back._"

A shooting star caught his attention and for the first time in several months, he smiled once again. "A shooting star…" He remembered what the First Lady had told him about them; if you see one, it's your chance to make a wish, for it was sure to come true. "A fairy tale… but, what have I got to lose?" He closed his eyes and opened them again, after chanting a wish in his mind. 


	5. Beyond Seven Chapter Four

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Four

______________________________________________________ 

            Scarlet, Heidegger and Reeve walked among the ruins of ShinRa, Inc. Surveying the remains, thinking about the jobs they once had, and how their downfall had come… their minds raced, and jumbled, till Reeve broke the silence. 

"… Why are we here again? This makes no sense whatsoever… Staring at our crumbled offices won't bring it back to life, you know…" 

Scarlet looked at him annoyingly. "Kya-hah! That's exactly what I'd expect to hear from you, Reeve! Always so serious…" 

"Well, this place is really creeping me out… I think ghosts may be lurking here…" 

Heidegger grunted. "Hah. Still the nancy boy, making a cat to spy on the enemy… Gya! If only you used your brain more often…" 

"I've a feeling you two are blaming me for everything." 

"Is it so obvious?" Scarlet asked. She scanned the area. "… but, then again, maybe spirits may be lurking around here…" 

A sudden noise caused them to turn around and yelp. It was the guard. 

"Oh, Mr. Heidegger, Mr. Reeve, Ms. Scarlet… Sorry, I thought you might be intruders again." 

Scarlet raised an eyebrow at him. "Intruders? Whatever do you mean?" 

"Oh, 3 people in their 20's or so were here a week ago, I think… they had their grandmother with them. A sad case, really. The old woman was a transvestite. She was dying, and they were gonna take her to Nibelheim." 

Reeve had a feeling that the aforementioned were from AVALANCHE. "Oh… um… please describe them…" 

"Who, the grandmother?" the guard asked.

"I said them, I mean the 3 people…" 

"Oh. 2 males and a female. The chick had blonde hair. One of them looked like a drunk, he had red hair. And then there was this tall bald guy with shades. A weird bunch. Then, the grandmother had blonde hair." The guard explained. "Now that I think about it, the grandmother looked like the late president… Hmm…" 

Upon hearing this, Scarlet, Heidegger and Reeve's eyes widened. 

"Kya-ha-ha-ha! The president is alive?!" 

"My god… I can't believe it…" 

Heidegger picked up his PHS. "I'm calling the Turks!" 

***

            Tifa glanced at the wall clock for the last time before she left the bar. It was a half past twelve and she felt really tired. She passed by the back door and she ended up in this dark alley. She decided to take the shortcut to her house by passing through another dark alley, but she stopped when she saw 3 people gathered in there. One was talking via PHS. 

"S-sir? Oh, we're at Nibelheim… uh, yes, as a matter of fact, he is… What? Oh, he's at the mansion… We'll call you back when we go there… What, you're coming over? Wha… hello?" he clicked his phone. 

"Who was that, Reno?" Hearing this, Tifa's eyes widened. So, the rumors were true. 

"Oh, that was the Fat Guy." 

"You mean Heidegger, right?" Tifa recognized this voice as Elena's. 

"Yeah, I mean him. Let's just go back to the mansion and report this to Rufus." 

The Turks walked away. Tifa watched their shadows disappear. 

Before Tifa could start walking again, she heard something rustling from behind her. She stopped and turned around swiftly. The rustling stopped. She frowned and shrugged then started to walk again, but she heard a soft "rreow" which made her stop and turn around once again. She searched the place with her wide eyes, scanning the whole area carefully. "Chill out, Tifa… it's just a stray cat…" she thought. But somewhere from her conscience began to speak to her, "Oh yeah? You call that a stray cat? It sounded like a big stray cat! Like someone from the zoo!" Tifa shuddered at the thought. "Oh no… I hope it's no lion or anything bigger than a building…" she thought with a worried smile on her face. She was about to ignore it when she saw a pair of eyes glowing from one dark corner. "Wh…what the…" she said softly. "Is… is anyone in there?" she asked. "Stupid, Tifa. If that's an animal, you can't expect it to respond to your question in human tongue." She scolded herself silently as she instinctively bent down a little and reached out her hand. "Meow," she called.

A large black panther-like animal came out from the shadows, looking up at her with curious eyes. Tifa looked at the very big cat. "Oh my, where have you come from?" she asked.

The large animal approached her and rested its head on her hands. "Aww, you're so cute!" she said with a sweet smile on her face.

The panther-like animal began to purr as it rubbed its head against her hand. 

"What's your name?" Tifa asked. Tifa wanted to smack herself for asking that. "Of course, it won't answer." She muttered. She knelt down and hugged the animal, never caring where it just came from. "Anyway, I'll bet you're already starving to death, huh?" she asked.

The animal looked up at her with sad eyes. "Aww, why? What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked.

The panther-like animal just looked at her. Tifa smiled gently at the animal. "C'mon, I'll take you home for a while." She said as she stood up and led the way to her house.

*** 

            The chirping of the birds had awoken Rufus from a deep slumber. The moment he opened his eyes, he glanced at his bedside table and saw picture frames. The picture of his mother was there and he sat up to get a good look at his mother. He smiled as he flipped his hair. "Gee… now I know where I got most of my looks." He thought with a proud smile on his face. Then, he turned to the picture next to his mother's. It was his father. Rufus frowned and he opened his drawer to search for a pen or some writing instrument. Finally, he saw a marker and he smiled victoriously. "Hahahaha! You're a goner, daddy." He chanted happily as he drew all kinds of graffiti on the photo while singing, "Small circle, small cirle… BIIIIG circle!" 

He stopped when the door suddenly burst open. "Good morning, President Rufus!" Elena greeted.

Rufus eyed her with stern eyes as he placed the picture frame down on the bedside table. "Good morning, Elena. What's for breakfast." He said with a joyful look on his face.

Elena stopped in her tracks. "Are you okay, President Rufus?" she asked.

Rufus frowned again. "Yes, I'm okay." He replied as he recapped the marker and placed it beside the photo. "Just greeted daddy a happy morning." He replied with a sarcastic tone.

Elena scanned the photo. "I… I see… I'm pretty sure he appreciated it." She replied with a nervous tone.

Rufus got up from his bed. "It wasn't meant to be appreciated unless he's really deranged like how I thought he already was the moment he…he pushed mom down the stairs." He replied, his face hardening.

Elena nodded. "Well then, President Rufus, it's nice to know that you can already stand up on your own. Don't worry, we'll change the bandages later." She said.

Rufus could still feel a little pain on his leg but it was already bearable. He examined the other photos and there was his pet. "Dark Nation…" he thought. Then, he turned to Elena and there was this worried glint in his eyes. "Where's Dark Nation?" he asked inquiringly.

Elena's eyes grew wide. In those three months, they never even thought of that big cat. "Uh…" she began.

Rufus frowned and clenched his fists as he grabbed the photo of his beloved pet. "Where is my goddamned cat?!" he demanded angrily.

"Well, I… we… we don't really know… after the explosion, we never saw her again…" She replied with a nervous tone.

Rufus threw the photo on the bed and he charged at the door. "Wait, President Rufus, where are you going?" she asked as she went after him.

Rufus took big steps as he rushed down the hallway leading to the stairs and it kinda hurt his leg very much, though due to his panic, he just tried to ignore the pain. On his way to the stairs, he saw Reno eating yogurt. "President Rufus, where are you going?" he asked.

Rufus grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall, making him spill his yogurt. "Where. Is. My. Cat?" Rufus asked in a low but threatening tone.

"I… what cat?" Reno asked.

"Dark Nation, dammit!" Rufus replied.

"Oh, I thought it was a puma…" Reno replied.

"WHATEVER!" Rufus replied as he let go of the Turk and rushed down the stairs. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his Dark Nation because it was the last present his mother had given to him on his sixth birthday. On his way out of the house, he caught a glimpse of Scarlet, Rude and Heidegger. "You, you and you!" he said threateningly, pointing at the three. "Go and search for Dark Nation!" he commanded.

"Dark Nation? You want us to start a Dark Nation instead of rebuilding the company?" Heidegger asked.

"No, dammit! My pet! I want you to find my pet!" Rufus shouted impatiently before he opened the door.

The gardener and the other servants were in awe upon seeing the President of ShinRa Inc. in his blue silk jammies. They moved away from the pathway leading to the gate to let the President pass. The passersby from outside stared in shock at him, recognizing who he was. 

From behind him, Rude, Reno and Elena were already rushing to him. "President Rufus," Elena began.

Rufus turned back to them. "You irresponsible fools! Don't you know how much Dark Nation means to me?" he demanded angrily.

Elena thought that tears were forming in Rufus's eyes, but she shrugged the thought off because everyone knew that he would never cry. 

Flashbacks of his mother giving to him Dark Nation for the first time came back to Rufus all at once and he clenched his fists. "Look, I don't care about anything else right now… I don't care whatever it takes! Just… give me my Dark Nation back!!!" he said with a shaky but strong voice. 

The Turks were stunned. They never thought that the President would be so shaken just by losing a cat. 

"Like, NOW!!!" Rufus screamed. Automatically, Reno, Rude and Elena ran off.

Rufus walked back in the mansion to calm down, still not realizing that everybody saw him screaming in silk blue pajamas. 

*** 

            Tifa yawned, fluttering her eyes open. "Must be morning…" she thought. Imagine her horror when the first thing she saw upon waking were 2 big, cat eyes staring at her. 

Tifa screamed. "EEEEK!!!" This sent the big cat thing to jump off her and scurry off into a corner of the room. She covered her mouth when she realized just what happened. 

"Ooh! Sorry, kitty!" The cat calmed down and ran to her. Tifa petted her head. She purred softly. "You have nice fur… I think you belong to a rich kid, huh? Did you run away?" she asked.

To her surprise, the panther-like cat shook its head. Tifa smiled and embraced the cat. "Don't worry. After breakfast, I'll take you for a walk." She said.

"Meworgh…" the panther-like animal replied in its low voice. 

Then, she looked out of her window and saw that some people were running around like crazy. "I wonder what's going on?" she thought quietly.

*** 

            "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Reno called out glumly.

"As if it'll respond to you," Scarlet snarled.

"Gyahahahahahahahahaha! If I know we're just wasting our time searching for that crazy panther." Heidegger replied.

"Well then why are you laughing? If President Rufus heard you, he's gonna throw a fit." Elena snapped.

Reno sat down on a bench near the park. "We've been roaming around the block ever since 8 in the morning and guess what, it's already 3 in the afternoon!" he snapped angrily.

"Well this wouldn't have happened if we weren't so irresponsible." Elena muttered.

Rude eyed them annoyingly but didn't say anything. He just sat down beside Reno.

"He gave us 24 hours to search for Dark Nation…" Reno said.

"And up to now, we still haven't found…" Scarlet trailed off when she saw a familiar-looking girl wearing a red sundress. She was carrying 3 shopping bags, the first 2 filled with cat food and the other one filled with grooming things for cats.

"Isn't that girl…" Scarlet started.

Rude looked up to the girl.

Reno smiled evilly. "Ooh, I think we've got company, guys," he replied.

Tifa walked past them, not able to notice them at first because she was singing a song to herself, but then Elena called her attention, "Lockheart," 

Tifa stopped in her tracks and she slowly turned to their direction. She took a few steps backward upon seeing those people sneering at her (except for the bald guy). She frowned at them and shook her head. "Sorry, do I know you?" she lied.

"Don't play dumb with us, Lockheart. You know us," Reno snapped as he stood up.

"What's with the cat supplies? Did you buy kitty litter?" Scarlet asked.

"No because she can do her business in the backyard as often as she could," Tifa replied sternly before she turned and walked away.

"Oh, or maybe it's Miss Lockheart who would be using those kitty stuff. Gyahahahaha!" Heidegger stated with an annoying tone.

Tifa stiffened. "Okay, calm down… they're not worth your time… besides, they're too many and you're all alone…" she thought to herself.

Just then, Reno ran after her. "Hey, where are you going? You want me to help you with your groceries?" he offered with a sarcastic tone.

"No thank you, I can manage," Tifa replied.

"Wait a minute," Scarlet said. The tone in her voice made Tifa stop. She let go of her things and faced them with an angry look on her face. "What do you want, you Turkeys?" she asked.

"Did you hear that?" Reno said angrily, turning to his comrades. 

"Gyahahahahaha! Turkey!" Heidegger laughed, pointing at Reno.

"Shut up." Reno snapped.

"Why don't you just return home to your President Rufus and leave me alone. I am not with AVALANCHE anymore." Tifa said with a stern tone.

"Ya hear that? Not with AVALANCHE anymore, eh?" Reno said, taking out his materia. Tifa's eyes widened. She wasn't prepared for combat. 

"We'll just see about that…" Reno trailed off and his eyes grew wide when he saw a very familiar-looking animal from behind Tifa.

Tifa noticed the look of surprise on their faces and she turned around to see the black panther she had brought home from last night. 

"It's… Dark Nation," Elena whispered.

Reno smiled. "Well, if it isn't the Presidential pet? C'mon, Dark Nation, let's go home," he said.

The panther snarled and hissed as it went beside Tifa. 

"What did you say her name was?" Tifa asked in awe.

The Turks ignored her. "Let's go, Dark Nation. Daddy's waiting for you," Scarlet said.

The animal just snarled. 

"Kitty," Tifa called.

The animal relaxed and turned to her. 

Everyone was surprised when the animal suddenly purred and rubbed itself against Tifa's leg.

"Is that really Dark Nation?" Heidegger asked.

"I don't know… I never really liked that animal anyway!" Reno snapped. 

Dark Nation turned to him and hissed.

Tifa knelt down and patted the panther. "What's wrong, kitty?" she asked.

"That animal hates us, maybe that's why it won't come near us whatever we did… don't you remember? Rufus was the only one who could feed it without getting his head bit off," Elena told Reno.

"What's wrong, kitty? Are those the nasty humans who hurt you?" Tifa asked with a pitiful look on her face as she patted Dark Nation's head.

To the Turks' surprise, the animal faced them and hissed while nodding. To Elena and Reno's imagination, they thought that the panther was smiling evilly at them and they could imagine her saying, "Take that, you ninnies." 

Elena shuddered and turned away. "I think we'd better tell Rufus first… he can get her himself… besides, I wouldn't wanna lose a hand right now…" she whispered to her companions.

"I think so too…" Reno replied.

They were about to leave without saying anything more, but they noticed that Rude was getting something from his pocket.

"Whatcha doin'? Let's go," Reno told him.

Rude didn't say anything (as usual) as he revealed a photo of a little blonde boy and a panther cub. 

Dark Nation stared at Rude like she was saying, "So what?" 

Tifa stared at the blonde boy and memories began to flood her present thought… back to the time when her father was rushed to the hospital because of a dislocated knee. 

"_Daddy shot my mommy."_ The voice of the little boy with blonde hair echoed through her mind.

Dark Nation hissed at Rude and turned her head away from him, like saying, "I still won't come with you because you are not Rufus!"

Rude gave up and approached Tifa and handed her the photo. Dark Nation growled at him as Tifa got the photo with a trembling hand.

Rude bent down a little and faced Dark Nation. "If you only like Rufus to be the one to take care of you, how come you are letting this lady take care of you?" he asked in a low tone which made Tifa shiver. 

"He actually spoke," Elena thought silently. 

Dark Nation stopped growling and Rude thought that she was smiling at him, like she had this plan in her head. With that, Rude left them.

Tifa embraced Dark Nation as she examined the photo of the little boy. "Rufus," she whispered.

Dark Nation purred upon hearing the name.


	6. Beyond Seven Chapter Five

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Five

______________________________________________________________ 

Tifa dressed up in the blue dress she wore when she had to go to Don Corneo's mansion. Though the dress gave her bad memories, she wore it anyway, because she had nothing else as elegant. Dark Nation looked up at her curiously. 

"Oh, yeah, kitty… I guess you don't know about my job, huh?" The cat shook her head. 

"I work at the bar. I'm a bartender and singer there… I work until midnight, you know? And sometimes it gets too tiring, and…" She stopped when she realized that she's talking to a cat. "Oh, sorry, I guess I've been blabbing mindlessly at you, huh? I guess it's been a long time that I've been alone…" She shook her head. "Okay, I'm ready! Wanna walk me over there? I'm sure my boss will let you in…" Dark Nation happily hopped near her.

They walked their usual way, including the path wherein they had to pass the ShinRa Mansion. Surprisingly, nothing and nobody stalked them. 

"Hmm… I guess they gave up…" muttered Tifa. She walked a few more steps, then she and Dark Nation reached the bar. 

The boss greeted Tifa, then looked at the big cat. 

"Oh, you brought your pet?" he asked. 

"Oh, she's not my pet, I was just taking care of her." she replied.

"Who owns the big panther, your boyfriend?" the boss joked.

Before Tifa could answer, Dark Nation nodded her head with a purr.

Tifa eyed the panther anxiously. "Uh, Kitty, are you sure you can understand us?" Dark Nation nodded, as if to say, "Yeah! Why? Do you suspect something evil from li'l old meeeeee?" 

Tifa rolled her eyes and then headed for the dressing room. Dark Nation followed her, making the others stare at them as they passed by.

***

Rufus looked out the same window he found the shooting star. He was growing tenser by the minute; being in this house without Dark Nation, he thought, was an insult to his mother. 

"… She gave her to me. I can't accept that she's lost…" he closed his eyes. Then, he heard somebody behind him. Or, at least, heard something behind him. 

He turned around, expecting another former employee, but to his surprise, he saw… 

"… Dark Nation?" 

The big panther-like thing ran to him and purred happily. Rufus embraced his pet. "Goodness, where the hell have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" he told her.

With that, the panther-like animal squirmed away from him and ran out of the room. Rufus frowned. "Wait! Where are you going?" he called out as he ran after her.

Dark Nation rushed down the stairs and out the door. Rufus stopped in his tracks and observed the panther-like animal as if she's saying, "Follow me!" Rufus frowned and followed her as she got out of the gates.

The big animal led the way to the bar a few blocks away from the ShinRa Mansion. Before Rufus could enter, he noticed that Dark Nation had disappeared in a dark hallway. Rufus went after her but he stopped when he found that the area was too dark to explore where she went, so he just decided to just go inside the bar. "Why the hell would she want me to go here?" he thought silently as the guard-on-duty greeted him. "Oh… good evening… sir," 

Rufus wondered if the guard was able to identify him. "I hope not… unless I'd like some Turks lurking around my path…" he thought miserably as he made his way to the vacant table before the stage. He sat down comfortably as the waiter approached him. "Yes, sir? What would you like to have to have?" the waiter asked.

"Red wine." Rufus replied.

With that, the waiter left.

It was already 9 in the evening and he still wondered where Dark Nation was. 

Then the audience began to applaud which surprised Rufus. He ignored the applause as he focused on the pianist performing on-stage. He looked down to the ground as he listened to the tune playing. He recalled his own mother teaching him how to play the piano, but he shook out the memory because he knew that it would just make him long for his mother and give him the urge to cry… and crying has been a big no-no for him.

He looked up at the stage again. He saw somebody walking up there. The audience applauded louder. 

As the performer went nearer to the center, Rufus wore a surprised face when he recognized who it was. 

Tifa did not bother to eye her audience carefully as she got the microphone and smiled. "Hi, good evening to all of you!" she said over the mic. Almost all of the spectators smiled at her except for the blonde guy seated on one of the front tables who caught her attention. Her eyes grew wide upon seeing him. "What the…" she thought in alarm.

Rufus caught a good glimpse of her staring back at him. The two were in awe upon seeing each other. Rufus was about to say something to her but her boss called her attention, "Tifa, what are you doing? The audience would like to hear your lovely voice again!" 

Tifa suddenly didn't know what to sing or the words from the songs from the playlist, so she just said, "Uh… any requests?" she asked.

No one answered.

Rufus spoke up, "How about that song that you were singing last night?" he asked.

"Wh…what song?" she asked.

He smiled slyly as he flipped his hair. "I think it was the last song you performed last night," he said.

Tifa nodded. "O…okay…" she replied before she cued the pianist.

The pianist shrugged. Tifa found out that the pianist was a new one. She frowned slightly and turned to Rufus. "I'm sorry… I think the pianist doesn't know the song…" she began.

Rufus frowned as he went up the stage and went to the pianist. "Let me at it, mister." He said.

The pianist stared up at him, recognizing his face. "P…President Rufus?" the pianist whispered.

"Who do you expect, Cloud Strife? Now get lost," he whispered threateningly. The pianist nodded and got away from the piano.

Tifa watched curiously (and nervously) as Rufus sat down facing the piano and stared at the keys for a while. Finally, he began to play, but Tifa wasn't singing. She was very stunned. So, he started to sing continuously for her.

"_Millionaire say, 'got a big shot deal' and thrown it all away but, but I'm not too sure how I'm supposed to feel or what I'm supposed to say but,"_

Though confused, Tifa did the second voice for him as he proceeded _"I'm not, not sure, not too sure how it feels to handle everyday… and I miss you love,_"

The audience was quiet, listening to their voices combined.

*** 

            Outside, Scarlet and Reno were passing by the bar and they stopped when they heard the singing from inside. "Aw ignore that. Let's proceed to look for Rufus," Scarlet said.

"Can't we just drop in for a while?" Reno asked.

"Oh, whatever," she replied as she opened the door to the bar and they entered. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Rufus and Tifa on-stage.

"What the…" Scarlet had managed to say in awe.

Reno's mouth dropped open as he stared in horror at the two.

Then, from behind them, they heard a familiar voice saying, "Excuse me, I need to pass,"

Reno turned around and saw a spiky-haired blonde guy. "YOU!" he yelled.

Everyone stopped and turned to them. Rufus frowned and slammed his hands on the piano keys, making a horrible sound. Tifa was surprised and she shrieked a little as she dropped the microphone.

Rufus stood up from the piano and went to Tifa. "Where is Dark Nation?" he asked.

Cloud saw Rufus talking to Tifa. His eyes flared dangerously that Reno and Scarlet knew that they had to move away from him. 

The ex-SOLDIER stormed through the people, up the stage, and grabbed Rufus by the collar. "YOU! I thought you were dead!!! What the hell are you doing here? Huh?!" he demanded angrily.

Rufus pushed him away from himself. "Get your dirty hands off me, Strife." He snarled. Then, from behind them, Dark Nation pounced from nowhere, but before she could do something to Cloud, he moved away from Rufus. Dark Nation stood before Tifa and Rufus, snarling angrily at Cloud.

"Wha… Kitty, what has gotten into you?!" Tifa managed to say. 

Cloud looked at the angry panther, then to Tifa. "Tifa… What on earth is going on in here?! What, after we destroy Sephiroth, I find you with…" He glared at Rufus. "… him? This scummy bastard?!" 

Dark Nation just got more agitated. She hissed, and held up a threatening paw. 

"Kitty," Tifa said, calling her attention. The panther-like animal stopped and turned to her and began to purr again.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Cloud," Tifa snapped at the spiky-haired man.

"You don't know what I'm talking about? What the…" Cloud was about to say something else but Rufus had cut him off by saying, "Didn't you hear the girl? I don't even have the intention of talking to this girl, however she seems to have taken care of Dark Nation." He snapped as he pushed Cloud away from his path as he walked going to Reno and Scarlet. "Let's go, Dark Nation," he called out.

Dark Nation looked up at Tifa with sad eyes. "Meowrgh…" 

Tifa smiled gently and felt tears stinging her eyes. She knelt down and hugged the big panther-like animal. "I'm going to miss you," she said sadly before she let the cat go. Dark Nation snuggled her head close to Tifa's face. "Aww, c'mon, Dark Nation… go to… to Rufus now, he's waiting for you," she said sadly.

Rufus stiffened before he turned back to Tifa and Dark Nation. Then, he noticed that the audience was already beginning to leave the bar.

Tifa turned to look at Rufus then Cloud. 

Dark Nation took one last look at Tifa before she turned to Cloud and hissed angrily. Cloud frowned and eyed Dark Nation angrily before the panther headed for Rufus.

Tifa stood up and turned away from them, wiping her tears away.

Before Rufus and Dark Nation could exit, he remembered something…

"Aerith," he whispered, loud enough for Cloud to hear. 

Cloud's ears tingled the moment he heard the name. His frown deepened as he called Rufus's attention with a stiff tone, "Did you say something?" he asked.

Rufus stopped in his tracks. "Aerith said that you should wait for her." he told him.

Cloud's eyes grew wide.

Tifa turned back to Rufus. 

Reno and Scarlet were in awe. "What's he saying?" Reno whispered to her. She shrugged.

"You should stop kidding around, ShinRa," Cloud began.

"I'm not kidding around, Strife." Rufus said with an annoyed tone as he flipped his hair again and turned to Cloud with a stern look on his face. "In fact, why don't you find out for yourself? I can just kill you so that you can meet her in the Lifestream." He said with a sly smile.

Cloud felt like bursting from anger as he clenched his fists and ran to Rufus, pulling out his big sword (I forgot what it's called, sowee…).

Tifa covered her eyes, afraid to see what he would do to Rufus, but she eventually removed her hands from her own eyes when she heard someone running up the stage and grabbing her from behind, strangling her. "Put down that weapon, Cloud Strife, or else your girlfriend gets it!" Reno snapped, pointing his materia at Tifa's neck.

Tifa was enraged and so she tried to squirm away. "Girlfriend? Who's got a girlfriend? I ain't his girlfriend for cryin' out loud!" she screamed angrily before she did a back kick and it was direct hit in the nuts.

"OW!" Reno screamed in agony, making Scarlet, Cloud and Rufus blink. Dark Nation turned away with a soft whimper.

Reno released Tifa and she faced him, punching his face repeatedly before kicking him to the wall. Then, she kicked his junk, her heels hitting where it really hurt. "Ow, dammit! Watch where you're kicking, lady!" Reno snapped.

Tifa gave him one last blow before she rushed to Cloud. He blinked in awe, "Tifa are you okay?" he asked.

But she gave him an upper cut. 

Rufus took a step back. Tifa sneered at everyone. "Now, who's my boyfriend again?" she demanded before she walked out of the bar, leaving everyone completely puzzled.


	7. Beyond Seven Chapter Six

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Six

__________________________________________________________________ 

            "Where have you been?" Elena asked after glancing at the clock which read 2:00 am.

"The new bar across the street…" Reno replied with a tired voice. Elena noticed the bruises and the bleeding nose. "Did you do something there? Did you get yourself into a fight or something? Who was with you?" she asked.

"You ask too many questions, I'm going to sleep now." He replied.

"Where's President Rufus?" she asked.

Scarlet entered the mansion and she looked like some kind of haggard. "You're still up? I told you not to wait up," she snapped at Elena.

"Where's the President?" Elena asked again, this time with panicky tone.

"He's…" Scarlet and Reno pointed with their thumbs outside the door.

Elena peeked outside. "He's not there," she declared.

"He's somewhere there… waaaaay outside the gates of our humble abode." Reno said grouchily.

"What happened to you?" Elena asked, turning to him with a frown.

"That Lockheart girl did it to him like spelling A-B-C." Scarlet replied.

"Did what?" Elena asked.

"She beat me up like a punching bag!" Reno wailed angrily.

Elena handed him a bag full of ice. "What did you do to her anyway? Did you pinch her butt or something?" she asked. 

Reno snatched the ice, then looked at her with an annoyed look. "NO, all I did was call her Strife's girlfriend! Then she went ballistic! That was pretty strange, though…" he said, while applying some to his black eye. "Anybody woulda thunk that he and she had it going, ya know? I mean, Rude told me that they were childhood friends…" 

"… How come that bald guy seems to know everything about Tifa?" asked Scarlet. 

"Hahahahaha! You mean even her bust size and her waist line and her clothes size whatsoever and what she eats during breakfast?" Reno joked.

"If she heard you, she'd definitely do something more than treating you like a punching bag," Scarlet muttered.

"Oh, this is supposed to be a secret but Rude's got this crush on Tifa." Elena replied while her eyes roamed around the place and a teasing smile played on her lips.

"Who's got a crush on Lockheart?"

The three froze.

"Meorwhgh…"

The more they froze.

They all turned to the doorway. "President R…Ru…Rufus?" the three said.

Rufus raked his fingers through his hair while Dark Nation hissed as they examined the three. 

"Wh…where have you been? After the commotion, you just disappeared…" Scarlet asked.

"You got us worried, President Rufus," Reno replied. 

Rufus looked very tired. "Stop treating me like I'm still a kid. I'm 20 years old and I can take care of myself now." He snapped.

"Meowrgh!" Dark Nation echoed with a proud look on her face.

"Stupid cat…" Reno muttered as he eyed the panther angrily. Dark Nation snarled.

Nobody else said a word as Rufus and Dark Nation walked upstairs. 

*** 

            Cloud rented a room at an inn far from the ShinRa mansion the moment he got to Nibelheim in the morning before the time he went to the bar and got slapped by Tifa. After Tifa had walked out from the bar after she slapped his face, he just went straight home, but on his way back to the inn, he thought he saw Rufus follow Tifa home. Since Cloud thought that Tifa must be angry with him for a reason he doesn't want to know, he just decided to leave Rufus alone.

He entered his room and he just plopped down on his bed, remembering what Rufus had mentioned about Aerith. 

Aerith, Aerith, Aerith…

Always Aerith. She's been in his mind for God knows how long. All he knows is, Aerith has been driving him crazy ever since… 

Ever since that moment when Sephiroth killed her. 

Thinking of this, Cloud can't help but shed a few tears. "No, Strife, don't let it get to you… Be strong, dammit!!!" he thought. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, then stared at the grandfather's clock. It was already 3 in the afternoon. "How long has it been since I arrived?" he thought silently as he closed his eyes. He was about to fall asleep when the telephone began to ring. "This is crazy… who would call me at this hour? Barret? He doesn't even know I'm in this inn!" he thought angrily as he reached out for the receiver and answered the call with a gruff tone, "Yeah?"

There was silence for a while, then a guy's voice spoke up, "Cloud Strife?" 

Cloud's frown deepened upon recognizing the voice. "What do you want, ShinRa?" he demanded. "And how did you know that I'm here?" he continued.

"Hehe… of course, I know. I asked." Rufus replied with a mocking tone.

"If you're just going to insult me…" Cloud began.

"I'm sure you want to ask me questions," Rufus told him with a serious tone, meaning to make Cloud shut up about the blahdy-blahs of insults.

Cloud was silent for a while. "Oh yes, I have a question: why should I trust someone like you?" he asked.

Rufus sneered. "Because I have seen your girlfriend in the Lifestream and you haven't." 

Cloud's eyes grew wide. "Liar!" he shouted.

Rufus laughed at him. "You know what, you're making me laugh." He said.

Cloud didn't answer. His eyes were tear-stained but he didn't want this to happen… especially since his brain's been flooded with more memories of Aerith ever since he answered the phone. He did not get the chance to cry the moment she really died, so why should he cry now? 

Rufus became serious. "What? Now you won't say a word. Thinking of Aerith again, huh? No wonder Tifa hates you." 

Cloud was surprised when Rufus mentioned Aerith's name. He wondered how he knew that, since he guessed that he only knows the others by their face. 

"… Tifa does not hate me." He said quietly. 

Cloud imagined how Rufus must have given him a mocking smile. "Does not hate you? Well, that's surprising, since she slapped you across the jaw last night! For all I know, she must have dislocated it!" 

"She's got these mood swings," Cloud stated flatly, though he knows that Tifa's been pretty stable and would try to be patient especially with him.

"Mood swings my ass. Whatever, Strife." Rufus replied.

Cloud shook his head. "Wait a minute… why can't you just tell me what's going on? What's with Aerith?" the way he mentioned the name reflected the longing from deep inside of him.

Rufus was silent for a while then he spoke up with a serious tone. "You are invited for dinner here in my mansion. You can take your little friend with you if you must, _for all I care_…" he said before he hung up.

Cloud listened to the dial tone for 5 seconds before he replaced the receiver. He sighed heavily. "Aerith," he whispered.


	8. Beyond Seven Chapter Seven

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Seven

_______________________________________________________________

            Tifa opened her eyes when she heard someone knocking on the front door. She sat up on her bed and stretched for a while before she got up from bed and grabbed her robe. After she put it on, she rushed to the front door and opened it with a frown on her face. She stared at the blonde guy with spiky hair. "What, chicken butt?" she asked harshly.

Cloud was surprised at her tone. He forced a smile. "Uh… hi, Tifa. Good morning. Gee, is this a good time or I'd better go now?" he asked.

Tifa studied him for a while and she wondered quietly why she wasn't at all excited upon seeing him compared to how she had reacted months ago and when they were much younger. She didn't say anything.

Cloud's smile faded away and suddenly, a thought came from his mind and he just had to blurt it out, "Did Rufus became your boyfriend and now you're acting like him?"

Tifa's eyes grew wide and she began to laugh. "What made you say that?" she asked.

Cloud looked away. "Never mind… uhm… so, would you like to come with me? I was invited for dinner and the host said that I can take someone with me," he told her.

They were silent for a while, listening to the chirping of birds. Passersby and early-risers were looking at them. 

"I have work tonight." She replied stiffly.

"Okay… I think I'll just have to go to the ShinRa Mansion all by myself." He said before he turned and walked away.

She blinked. "Hey, Cloud!" she called out.

Cloud stopped in his tracks and turned back to Tifa.

She smiled. "Actually, it's my off tonight. Sorry… I'll just go with you." She said.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Tifa, if Rufus is already your boyfriend, can you just tell me the truth? I won't fret." He told her.

"No, actually, I just want to see uhm… _Kitty_." She replied.

Cloud chuckled lightly. "You mean Dark Nation," he corrected.

"Well… yeah. Whatever you may wanna call her." she said. Cloud was silent for a while.

Tifa smiled sheepishly at him. "L…look… I'm sorry about slapping your face last night. Did it hurt?" she asked.

Cloud was surprised but he shook his head. "N…no, it's okay." He replied as he approached her. He reached out his hand to her. "Friends?" he asked.

Tifa stared at his hand for a while and then turned her head to the direction of the ShinRa Mansion, staring up at its tall walls. She smiled and looked back at Cloud. She shook his hand. "Friends," she replied with a cheerful tone.

***

Rufus stared at the clock hanging in his bedroom wall, bored out of his mind. 

"… Great. I invited one of my worst enemies and some violent bar hostess for dinner. Such good thinking, Rufus. Inviting someone for dinner to tell him that his girlfriend will come back from the dead," he muttered. He stood up, and walked towards his window, to look at Nibelheim and clear his mind. "How the hell am I going to pull this off? Everybody in this so-called mansion's going to nag my head off for inviting those two. Not that they have the guts to do that…" he laughed. 

He watched the Nibelheim folk walk by, and he felt kind of relieved that nobody bothered to cower their selves in fear. He wanted to smile and wave at the little children playing hopscotch by the gate but he stopped himself at first. Then, a little blonde boy looked up at him from downstairs. The little blonde boy reminded him of himself when he was still a little boy. Rufus smiled at the little boy and waved unconsciously.

The little boy waved back at him and that's when Rufus snapped back to reality and looked away from the window. He closed the window and leaned against the wall… that's when he noticed that Elena was standing by the doorway and staring back at him.

Rufus stiffened as he felt his ears reddening. "Don't you know how to knock?" he demanded.

"I've knocked 20 times but you weren't answering so I just entered… I never expected that you'd be here," she replied sheepishly.

"Hmf," he said, turning back to the window. Then, she smiled. "Uh… don't mind me asking, but why were you waving outside?" she asked.

"I was swatting at flies." He lied.

Elena awkwardly nodded as she tried to keep a straight face. "I see… well then… breakfast is ready, sir." She said.

"Did you feed Dark Nation?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. We fed her chicken." She replied.

"I left 3 shopping bags of cat stuff by the front door last night. Did you see it?" he asked.

Elena blinked. "Well… yes… Reno and I took it and placed it in the storage room by the basement." She told him. "Don't mind me asking, Your Excellency, but where did you buy the cat food? Did you stop by the 24-hour convenience store and bought the cat food yourself? Is that why you arrived later than Reno and Scarlet?" she asked.

He frowned slightly, thinking if he should really answer the question. He recalled that last night, after Tifa had walked out of the bar, he followed her home because Dark Nation kept biting his pants, pulling him to Tifa's direction. When he arrived at her house, she was really surprised that he really followed her home... 

"Why are you here? You got your pet back, so go away," she snapped with a shaky tone. He simply smiled slyly at her and he flipped his hair, then he patted Dark Nation's head. The panther purred happily. "Thanks for taking care of Dark Nation, Miss Lockheart." He said coolly. 

_She was silent for a while and then she nodded her head uneasily. "N…no problem, President ShinRa." She replied_

_"Don't call me by my father's name, I'm not like him… besides, I think we're just about the same age. Just call me by my first name." He said as Dark Nation circled around him, rubbing her head against his leg. _

_She nodded shyly as she stiffened. "Why's he alive? I thought he died already? Oh… maybe he just bumped his head that's why right now he's talking to me and he's actually thanking me for taking care of his kitty…" she thought in confusion. "Sure, no problem, President Rufus." She told him._

_He raked his fingers through his hair again. Tifa frowned and scratched her head and then unconsciously imitated his action by raking her fingers through her bangs. "Why does he have to do that?" she thought to herself as she observed him. He smiled when he saw her imitate him and he raked his fingers through his hair again while saying, "Just Rufus." He told her._

_She nodded. "Rufus," she repeated._

_"Good." He told her with a hard tone, as if approving something from his staff._

_Tifa was silent for a while and then turned to Dark Nation. The panther-like animal actually said "Meowrrr…" at her. It made Rufus and Tifa smile._

_Tifa turned back to Rufus. "I…I have some cat stuff which I bought for Dark Nation since I thought that she's lost and I just decided to take care of her for a while. Would you like to have them, Rufus?" she asked._

_His sly smile widened when he heard her say his first name without any formalities attached to it. He felt happy upon hearing it because for several years, he's been hearing "President" or "Your Excellency" or "Sir" or whatever crap they can come up with, even "That ShinRa bratling". "Sure," he told her._

_With that, Tifa got inside without even telling him to wait. She left the door open and Dark Nation rushed inside. Rufus's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Hey…" he was about to call her attention, but she was already inside, looking for Tifa._

_Rufus hesitated for a while and scratched his head, looking around, until he decided to enter the house. The moment he got inside, he took a good look around the "new" surroundings and wondered what's it like to live the simple life without the servants and all the luxuries life could offer. He somewhat adored the simplicity of the surroundings. He smiled when he saw the family photo of Tifa with her mother and father when she was still a little girl. _

_Little girl?_

_He frowned and approached the family portrait on the wall, looking at it with curious eyes._

The little girl from the hospital_._

_"So glad you came in," she said, interrupting his thoughts._

_Rufus turned swiftly back to her with wide eyes. "Oh… sorry… you left the door open and Dark Nation rushed inside." He explained sheepishly._

_He saw Dark Nation approaching him from behind Tifa. Tifa handed him the 3 grocery bags. "She's a nice pet, you know? I had a good time taking care of her even if it's only for a day…" she admitted sheepishly._

_He smiled and nodded as he took the grocery bags. "Thanks again." He told her._

_Dark Nation rubbed her head against Tifa's leg. _

_Tifa patted her head and then referred to Rufus. "C'mon, kitty. Go to daddy." She said._

_"Daddy?" Rufus asked. He never really referred to himself as Dark Nation's daddy. He smirked at her as he raked his fingers through his hair again. "And may I ask who the mommy is?" he asked._

_Tifa stiffened. "I…I don't know… your girlfriend?" she asked, forcing a silly smile on her face._

_Rufus looked away, wearing a weird look Tifa can't describe. "Hah! What girlfriend? Never even had one before…" he muttered. _

_Before anybody could have done anything else, Dark Nation rubbed her head against Tifa's leg, as if to say, "Here's your girlfriend, Ruffy!" _

_Rufus and Tifa stared at Dark Nation weirdly, then unconsciously stared at each other's eyes. There was a moment of awkward silence, until Tifa broke it by clearing her throat. _

_"Uhm… Rufus, I think it's way past midnight… Shouldn't you be going back home? I wouldn't want your Turks to get worried and then blame me for keeping you late. Besides, I wouldn't want my head served in a silver platter before the other servants of yours who hated me for being an ex-AVALANCHE member." She said sheepishly, her head bowed down._

_"Ex-AVALANCHE?" he asked._

_"I quit months ago after Sephiroth's death. Didn't you hear about it?" she asked._

_He shook his head. "I never really cared about AVALANCHE. All I cared about was keeping ShinRa alive." It was hard for Rufus to explain and if he said that to Cloud or to any other person besides Tifa, he knew that they would just make him elaborate… but Tifa understood what he had meant. _

_"Oh… okay, whatever you say…" Tifa replied uneasily. _

_Without a word, Tifa led Rufus and Dark Nation out the door. _

_"Okay… so, I guess this is good night, then?" Tifa said, before they completely got out of the house._

_Rufus stopped in his tracks. "How could she possibly talk to me like that… like nothing went wrong months ago?" he thought silently. He had to admit that the way she was speaking to her and the way she was treating him made him a little disturbed. "Uh… yeah. G'night." He told her simply, though he recalled that no one's told him "Good night" for several years already ever since his mother died… and that was the first time in too many years since the First Lady died that he said "Good Night" to somebody else; because usually, he would just say, "Get out of here, I want to sleep!" or "I'll sleep now." _

_Tifa watched as they started walking down the street again. She hesitated for a while before she ran after them. "Wait!" she called out._

_Rufus stopped and turned back to her. Dark Nation looked up at her with curious eyes as she bent down and kissed her on the head. "Bye, kitty." Tifa said. Rufus pressed his lips together and he had this look of envy in his eyes. Dark Nation looked up at him and he thought that she was sneering at him like she's saying, "Haha! Who gets the kissy-wissy from Tiffy?"_

_Rufus looked away immediately when Tifa stood up and turned to him. "Sorry. I can't help it." She said with a slight blush._

_Rufus smiled at her and raked his fingers through his hair again. "It's alright, Miss Lockheart." He said._

_"Tifa." She corrected._

_"Tifa," he repeated as he flipped his hair. Again. -.-_

_With that, Tifa waved goodbye and walked back to her house. _

_Dark Nation was already pulling Rufus's pants again to the direction of the ShinRa Mansion, but he refused to move from his spot. He just stood there, watching Tifa until she got inside her house. He still stood still for several moments until the lights from inside the house went off. _

_That's when he realized that Dark Nation was about to rip his pants off. He frowned. "Hey!" he snapped. Dark Nation released his pants and ran off to the direction of the ShinRa Mansion. Rufus looked down at his pants where Dark Nation had bitten. "Darn you… you drooled!" he scolded._

"Meowrrr…" she replied… 

            …Rufus smiled at Elena and finally decided to reveal the truth. "Actually, I went to Tifa's house and she gave me those for Dark Nation. It's really nice of her to take care of Dark Nation." He explained.

Elena was stunned. "He went to that girl's house?" she asked herself in disbelief… though she still wanted to ask him several questions, she just simply said, "Who's Tifa?" she asked.

"Don't lie to me, Elena. You know that AVALANCHE terrorist group? She was one of them." He told her.

"So, sir… would you like us to infiltrate her house?" she asked.

"No. Don't you do that unless you want to lose your heads." He snapped angrily.

Elena gulped. "Man… he went to her house and then overnight he's threatening to get rid of our heads? What did she do to him?" she thought in confusion.

Then, Rufus recalled the chicken. He flipped his hair again. "Who cooked the chicken?" he asked.

"Chicken?" she asked.

"You said that you fed Dark Nation some chicken for breakfast." He told her.

Elena's mind finally cleared. "Oh… Sorry… um… Scarlet did the cooking since we still don't have a chef." She said.

"Did she cook my breakfast?" he asked.

"Y…yes sir, why?" she asked.

He smiled slyly at her. "I see… well then, I've invited a few people for dinner tonight here in my house. I want everything to be well-prepared." He told her.

Elena nodded. "Yes, sir…" she replied simply before she got out.

After a few moments, he went down for breakfast.


	9. Beyond Seven Chapter Eight

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Eight

__________________________________________________________________ 

            Scarlet grumbled as she continued to chop onions. Along with Reno, Rude and Elena, they prepared Rufus's and whoever else's dinner. 

"Kya! Why would the President suddenly demand that I cook dinner?! Can't he hire somebody else?" Scarlet complained. 

"Hey, you were the one bragging this morning about cooking a gourmet breakfast! Though you didn't even give me one measly hash brown…" Reno muttered as he peeled the potatoes grumpily. 

"Shut up! I'm an expert in Weaponry, not cooking!" 

Elena stirred the sauce and thought, "Wonder who his guests are?…"

Reno violently slammed the potato peeler on the counter and asked, "Dammit! Dinner's at 7… what time is it?" he asked in annoyance.

"5:45 pm…" Elena replied.

"This is unfair… how come Reeve and Heidegger aren't helping us?" Reno demanded.

"Stop complaining, they're setting the table and they're having a hard time with the table napkins. They can't decide whether they're gonna do the Cardinal's Hat or just fold it into squares." Scarlet snapped.

"Darn it…" Elena muttered as she dropped some of the pots and pans on the floor, making a nasty noise which made the others twitch. 

"Careful with that! Do you want the noise to reach President Rufus's room?" Scarlet snapped angrily.

"You're so touchy, if Tseng were here, he'd be a little more patient!" Elena snapped.

"Well you're so unlucky, I am not Tseng… kya…" Scarlet snapped.

Reno and Rude exchanged confused glances. "Are you still brooding for Tseng?" Reno asked.

Elena sniffed and turned to Scarlet. "Will you hurry it up with those onions? I can't stand it anymore… it's making my eyes water," she told her before she walked out of the kitchen.

"What's wrong with her?" Reno asked.

"Kya… I don't know…" Scarlet replied.

*** 

            Elena looked at the clock and frowned when she saw the time. It was ten minutes before seven. She never returned to the kitchen, instead, she stayed in the living room. "So what if I'm still brooding over… over Tseng?" she thought silently.

She was interrupted when she heard the doorbell. She got up from the sofa and went to the front door and opened it. "Good evening, I…" she trailed off when she recognized the blonde man with spiky hair wearing a black suit and the girl wearing a red cocktail dress. 

"Hello, may we see President Rufus ShinRa?" Tifa asked with a sweet smile on her face.

Elena sniffed. "Wh…why?" she asked.

Cloud stared at Elena. "Are you okay?" he asked with a mocking tone.

Elena wiped her tears away. "Come inside, President Rufus is upstairs. I'll go and call him, make yourselves at home." She said with a trembling voice. She didn't want to argue with them since she felt so uneasy all of a sudden ever since that afternoon in the kitchen. She stepped aside to let them in. 

Cloud and Tifa exchanged confused glances before he stepped inside. Tifa followed after him and searched for any sign of Elena but she wasn't there anymore. "Well… talk about entertaining guests…" she muttered.

"Maybe she went upstairs to get Rufus like what she mentioned earlier." He said as he went to the living room.

Then, they were interrupted when they heard a scream. They turned to one of the doorways and were surprised. Tifa took a few steps backward. Cloud eyed the person who screamed.

It was Scarlet. 

She pointed a finger at them. "YOU! What are you doing here?!" she demanded angrily.

"What are **you** doing here?" Cloud replied, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What's going on in here?" 

All eyes turned to the stairs. Rufus looked down at them like he was some kind of scary vampire or something… Scarlet took a few steps backward. "President Rufus… don't tell me you've invited these two for dinner?" she asked.

"You are very rude to our guests, Scarlet. Why don't you apologize?" Rufus asked.

Scarlet frowned and turned to Rufus and Tifa. She sneered. "Kyaa~…" before she walked out.

Rufus's frown deepened as he went down the steps in a graceful manner which amazed Tifa. 

From behind him, Dark Nation came rushing down.

Tifa smiled. "Kitty!" she said happily. Cloud took a few steps away from the big animal as Tifa knelt down and hugged the panther-like animal. "I missed you, girl!" she said. Dark Nation purred. 

Rufus rolled his eyes. "What a touching moment," he said somewhat sarcastically. Dark Nation looked at him with a look that says, "Jealous, huh, Master?" 

Rufus looked back at the cat, as if to say, "Shut up." Then, he held out his hand and said, "Won't you come in for dinner?" Cloud and Tifa went to the dining room, with the panther-thing following them close behind. 

***

            Dinner consisted of stuffed turkey (TURKey… duh… :]), mashed potatoes, pork stew and red wine. Cloud had a hard time using the assortment of forks, making everybody stare at him. Hoping to break the silence, Cloud cleared his throat and said, "So, Rufus… what was it you wanted to tell me?" he asked.

"I'm sure you know Aerith Gainsborough?" Rufus asked.

Tifa looked at Cloud at the mention of the name and it made her smile when she saw him light up even a little. Then, Dark Nation tapped her leg with a paw. "Meowr…" 

Tifa turned to the panther-like animal and smiled. "Hello, kitty! You want some of these?" she asked, showing her a slice of pork.

Dark Nation purred and licked her mouth.

Tifa turned to Rufus, interrupting him and Cloud. "Can I give her some of these?" she asked with a sweet smile.

Rufus was in awe for a while upon seeing her smiling sweetly at him. 

Cloud looked away and turned to Rude and Reno who were standing in one corner near the doorway leading to the kitchen. "Gargoyles…" he thought while trying to stifle a grin. He flashed them a what-are-you-looking-at-let-your-boss-stare-at-the-lovely-lady-in-red look. Reno sneered at him before he looked away.

Rude kept on looking at Tifa and Rufus and he was smiling rather naughtily.

Reno noticed the smile. "What the hell are you doing?" he whispered.

Rude turned to him.  Reno frowned. "You're smiling!" he revealed.

Rude looked away and leaned against the wall.

Cloud noticed that Rufus wasn't answering but he just kept on staring at his friend. He interrupted Rufus's thoughts "Ahem,"

Rufus looked away. "Sure, just don't overdo it, she might get used to it," he told her.

Tifa nodded and gave Dark Nation a piece of pork.

Rufus rubbed his head a little, then turned back to Cloud. "Where was I again, Strife?" he muttered. 

"You were saying something about Aerith." 

Rufus sipped a bit of his wine. "Oh, yes… About that Ancient…" he started. He wasn't sure how to properly say 'your girlfriend's gonna come back from the dead', especially when he went through the trouble of inviting them to a formal dinner. Cloud noticed that he was having a hard time thinking of the words to say, or something. 

"No need to be so formal about it, ShinRa. Just spit it out." He said. 

Rufus looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Fine. You said it, not me." He cleared his throat. "Okay. Here's what she told me, as far as I can remember: "Tell Cloud to wait for me"." 

There was a moment of awkward silence in the room. Tifa covered her mouth, a look of confusion could be seen on her face. Even Rude and Reno had to react. And Cloud choked on nothing. 

"Wha… what?" Cloud managed to stammer. "A… Aerith told you that?" 

Rufus thought again, making sure that nothing else was forgotten. "… Yes. I'm sure of it." 

"N…no, how can she tell you that?" Cloud asked.

"Remember the explosion? I was just under this rubble and all of those days, I think she was the one who kept me alive. I just realized it on the day before I realized that I was alive. I was in the Lifestream and there she was." Rufus told him. 

"How can you be here if you've been in the Lifestream? I was certain that whoever went there cannot return anymore!" Reno snapped.

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you!" Rufus told him in annoyance as he stood up.

Cloud shook his head. "But you're here," he told Rufus.

Dark Nation sat down by Tifa's side, observing them. 

Reno felt silent.

"Are you saying that I'm a ghost? Look at me, can you see through my body? Do you see this chair? Can I go through objects? NO! You idiot! Next time, think before you say something!" Rufus scolded Reno.

"Calm down, Rufus," Tifa told him with a gentle tone.

Rufus took a deep breath and then turned to Cloud.

Cloud looked up at him. "How did you talk to Aerith?" he asked.

"She came to me. I did not even expect her to be there. She just came." Rufus replied.

Cloud nodded.

Tifa smiled at Rufus. "Well… what did she mean?" she asked, urging him to continue.

Rufus sat down again and turned to Cloud. "I don't know. That's all she had told me." 

Can you stand up after you fall?… 

Rufus shook that voice away. "Yes… that's all…"  

Cloud looked down, trying to believe it. "A-are you sure? There must be something, other than that…" he said. "I mean, did she tell you how she's gonna come back?" 

"No, like I told you, that's all she told me. What's so hard to understand about that?" Rufus said, rather irritated. 

"Cloud, maybe Aerith's been there with you all the while even after she died." Tifa stated while patting Dark Nation's head.

Cloud and Rufus turned to her. The former smiled sarcastically. "Duh. Now you're telling me… I can't understand you and Rufus… what's wrong with the two of you?" he demanded.

"Nothing's wrong with us, buck-o." Rufus snapped.

The three were silent for a few moments.

"Ahem," Rude began, clearing his throat.

All eyes turned to him.

"Maybe what Tifa meant moments ago is that Aerith is in Cloud's heart and memory all along." He told them.

"You're mushy," Reno remarked harshly.

"You're drugged." Rude shot back.

"If so, then why did she tell me to tell this blonde guy over here to wait for her?" Rufus demanded, referring to Cloud.

The 5 fell silent.

Cloud sighed heavily. "Isn't there any way that I can talk to Aerith?" he asked miserably.

Rufus turned to him and after a few moments of silence, he spoke up. "Look, why don't we just ignore the issue for a while, it's beginning to drive us crazy," he decided before starting to eat again.


	10. Beyond Seven Chapter Nine

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Nine

________________________________________________________________________ 

            After dinner, Cloud just decided to go back to the inn and rest. While walking down the streets of Nibelheim, he passed by the bar where Tifa worked and he saw a bunch of people standing outside. Cloud recognized them: Barret, Yuffie, Marlene, Cid, Vincent and Red XIII. He wondered if he should just pass by the other way or just go to them. "I'm tired right now… that Rufus made me more confused than before about Aerith…" he thought silently as he went the other way, trying to avoid them.

However, he stopped in his tracks when he heard Red XIII say, "Isn't that Cloud?"

"Oh no… it's happening…" Cloud muttered. He turned to them again but he didn't smile. "Hey," he greeted flatly.

The gang ran to him. "Hey, Cloud! How's it goin'? We were lookin' for you but we didn't know where you're staying so we tried to ask Tifa but we couldn't find her either…" Barret explained.

"Where is she? The boss over there said that Tifa worked in his bar but it's her off tonight…" Yuffie trailed off when she realized what Cloud was wearing.

"Why are you wearing _that_?" Vincent asked, referring to Cloud's black suit.

"Did you go on a date with Tifa?" Marlene asked with a cheery smile.

"Where's Tifa?" Barret asked.

Cloud's frown deepened as he uneasily pointed toward the ShinRa Mansion. "In. There. Gotta. Go. Sleepy. Tired. Bye." He said before walking away from them. "I wonder why Rufus asked Tifa to stay… and she actually agreed? Oh well… probably because of _kitty_… but I were Tifa, I wouldn't really call THAT _kitty_… I'd call it MONSTER… nah, it seems a little harmless now… maybe lioness… whatever…" he thought silently as he scratched his head.

The gang was silent for a while and watched him as he disappeared down the streets.

"What the &*&%$&(@@$# did he mean by that? Are you sure that's Cloud?" Cid said in total confusion.

"Yes, that's him, based on his smell…" Red XIII replied.

Yuffie giggled. "You mean, you sniff people?" 

Red XIII frowned. "Yes, being one of my kind…" 

"Where's Tifa?" Marlene asked her daddy.

Barret turned to the ShinRa Mansion. "I don't know what's going on, guys… but Tifa's in there." he muttered.

"Should we go see?" Yuffie asked.

Vincent stared for a while. "I don't think we should go there now." He told them.

"Wasn't that already ruined?" Yuffie asked.

"Well now it isn't. I smell something fishy here," Barret said while scratching his nose.

*** 

            The music room was very exquisite, redesigned from scratch. Rufus could clearly remember when he was just a little boy, he and his mother would spend too much time inside the music room just singing or playing instruments. It had been years ever since he last entered that room.

"I like this room," Rufus told her.

Tifa looked around, amazed at its friendly atmosphere. Then, she saw the piano. "You play the piano?" she asked. She wanted to smack herself for asking that. "Stupid, do you want him to yell your head off your neck for asking that stupid question? Of course, he knows how to play the piano, you've seen him already!" she thought angrily to herself.

He was silent for a while until Dark Nation entered the room and circled around him. He looked down at his pet and smiled. "Yes, I know how. My mom taught me. She loved music very much…" he admitted.

Then, Dark Nation purred. She turned to Tifa and said, "Meowrgh."

Rufus patted her head. "Good girl," he said.

Tifa knelt down and Dark Nation came to her. She embraced the panther-like animal and the purr grew louder.

"Would you like something to drink?" Rufus asked.

Tifa looked up at him. "Whatever you say," she replied.

Rufus went out for a while and after a few moments, he returned with Elena.

Elena eyed Tifa carefully and forced a smile.

"I'm sure you know Elena?" Rufus asked.

Tifa nodded slightly, eyeing the Turk carefully. "Did she just cry?" she thought silently.

Elena's eyes were a bit puffy. She walked across the room and placed the tray with the bottle of red wine and two wine glasses on the coffee table. Then, she walked back to the door. "Excuse me," she said before she left the room.

Rufus went to the coffee table and poured them some wine. "Are you sure it's okay if you stayed behind?" he asked.

"It's okay, Rufus. After all, if I went back to my house, I wouldn't be doing anything there. Besides, I just can't leave Kitty behind." She said with a sweet smile as Dark Nation nuzzled her face to Tifa's.

He smiled as he turned to her. "You're growing attached to Dark Nation, huh?" he asked.

"I can't help it… I'm sorry if I really adore Dark Nation so much… but if you want, I'll just stay away…" Tifa trailed off when she saw Dark Nation staring at her. "Meowrgh…" she said with a low tone.

Rufus flipped his hair. "I don't think Dark Nation would like that." He told her.

Dark Nation purred again. 

Then, Tifa stood up and went to Rufus. "D…don't mind me asking, but since Cloud isn't here anymore… what exactly happened?" she asked.

Rufus stared at her with his icy blue eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I… I mean… What I meant was… uh…" she said, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

Dark Nation tilted her head to the right, looking up at Tifa with inquiring eyes while at the same time, it would seem like she was saying, "Don't worry, Tifa. If he does something bad to you, I'll bite his nuts. Hehehehehehe…"

Rufus sat down in the couch near the piano and crossed his legs and flipped his hair. "I see what you mean… but please elaborate so that I'll know if what I'm thinking is true," he told her.

Tifa hesitated for a while but she finally got the courage to speak up. "I mean… you're being nice and you've… changed…" she finally said.

Rufus smiled slyly. "Maybe… I'm a little surprised too myself… I mean, I should be doing those things which my father had done… but I'm not. Didn't you notice it even before?" he asked.

Tifa was silent for a while. "No, not really… Actually, we all thought of you as someone… well, heartless, I guess…" Tifa said. "I mean, Aerith once told us that no one's ever seen you bleed or cry," she said, quietly. 

Rufus was quiet, thoughts whirling around his head. "_No one's ever seen you bleed or cry…_" he thought. "Damn…" he muttered. "You mean…" he took a sip of wine and stood up again. "…that's what people think about me?" he asked with a sly smile.

Tifa could tell that the smile was forced. "Um… I think so…" she trailed off when he placed the glass on the window sill. He turned to her with a serious but cold look. "What about you? How do you see me?" he asked with a low tone.

The question was unexpected so she didn't really know how to respond. She hesitated for a while but then she finally managed to say, "Uh, me? Well…" she gestured uneasily and a shy but nervous smile could be seen on her face. It was just like a graded recitation from way back in her schooldays and it was a 100-point all or nothing question which she didn't study for. "Uh… based on what others have said about you, you're cold-hearted, uncaring, insensitive, hard, serious, violent, evil… you know, all those stuff that they use to describe an extremely bad villain… until it seemed to so many people that you're more evil than Sephiroth and your father combined. And when you encountered Cloud and had a battle with him, I think that the reputation just kinda got into me and I thought of you as someone who should be loathed…" she trailed off when she saw Dark Nation's tail flipping restlessly and her head tilted to the left. She jerked and turned back to Rufus with a slight blush on her face. "But when I spoke to you, I think everything just changed. I mean, you're not so bad as they say… you're just… well, afraid?" she asked.

Rufus frowned at her upon hearing that. "Afraid?" he asked.

She was quiet.

"Meowrrrr…" Dark Nation circled around Tifa, as if to protect her.

Rufus shook his head and he stood up from the couch. Tifa thought that he would say something harsh to her, but he didn't. He kept quiet, trying to force himself to shut up instead of yelling at her like crazy for telling him that. Instead, he went to the piano and he began to play something. The beat was fast at first but it began to slow down.

Tifa listened carefully and she knelt down again and hugged Dark Nation. Dark Nation nuzzled her head against Tifa's neck as if to say, "Don't worry, Tiffy, I'm here…" 

Tifa seemed to understood what it meant so she whispered, "Thank you, Kitty."

Then, someone entered without knocking. "President Rufus," 

Tifa and Dark Nation turned to the door with wide eyes. The latter hissed.

It was Scarlet and behind her was Reno.

Rufus didn't answer. Instead, he stopped playing and the whole room was silent for a while. After a few moments, he began to play again with one hand, _The Funeral March_. "What do you want?" he asked harshly.

Reno and Scarlet understood what he meant when he said that while playing the scary music. "Um… is this a bad time, sir?" Reno asked.

"What do you think?" Rufus asked as he slammed his fists on the keys, making everyone jerk. Dark Nation hid behind Tifa. Tifa stood up and moved away from them, going to the window and looking outside.

Scarlet gritted her teeth. "Kya… I guess it could wait." 

Reno stared at Rufus, rolled his eyes at Dark Nation, and then walked off, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard Scarlet finally say to Rufus, "How come that slut's in here?"

Reno felt nervous all of a sudden. "Uh-oh… there goes our salary…" he muttered as he turned back to Scarlet. He ran to her and grabbed her hand, forcing her to come with him. "Let's go before he blows up the place!" he whispered.

She pushed him away. "I'm not going until President answers the question! I'm not going to let this AVALANCHE slut take President Rufus away from us!" she snapped.

Reno turned to Rufus and he thought that it was creepy that the President was just seated before the piano and staring at the keys, though his eyes reflected too much of undefined rage. Reno turned to Tifa and there was this hurtful look in her eyes as she tried her best to stop herself from saying something bad and cry. Dark Nation was ready to pounce as she was hissing at Scarlet angrily.

"What, President Rufus? I know that you are a man and you have urges but why do you have to take her? If I know she's been sleeping around with several men including Cloud Strife!" Scarlet stated with a panicky tone.

Tifa's mouth dropped open. Finally, she shook her head in annoyance. "Look here, Miss. I may not be from the same caste as Rufus and I may be working at this bar to earn my living, but that doesn't mean that I am a slut! You shouldn't be judging people from where they came from!" she snapped angrily.

"Aha, and you have the guts to answer me like that? Well then," Scarlet was about to say something nasty again, but she trailed off when Rufus pulled out his shotgun as he stood up and pointed it at Scarlet. "Looks like Scarlet needs to learn some manners about respecting the President's important guest… I don't like the way you're treating Miss Lockheart." He threatened.

Scarlet froze. Reno frowned and he just looked away.

"Rufus… I think I'd better go now. I don't want to stay in a place where I am not being accepted," Tifa told him with a shaky tone. Rufus turned to her and saw her tear-stained eyes, then back to Scarlet, giving her an oh-look-what-you've-done look. 

Tifa went to Dark Nation, and scratched her head. "Bye, girl… I don't think I'll be coming back here soon…" she whispered. She walked out the door, Scarlet narrowing her eyes at her and Reno looking at her, sort of shocked. 

When she felt the first tears drop, she felt like running, but just as she was about to, she heard Rufus's angry shout, "You imbeciles! Fools! Idiots! Get out of here before I fill your asses with gun powder!"

Then, she heard heavy footsteps from behind her. "Tifa!" he called out.

Tifa clenched her fists, her long nails digging deeply into her palm, and she never even cared when she felt the blood. She sniffed before she completely ran off. She didn't want to look pathetic with Scarlet and the other Turks around.

The moment she got down the stairs, she was already crying her eyes out and Rude saw her. He was about to stop her but she was too quick. She kept on running until she got out of the mansion. She stopped when she reached the streets near her house and she fell on her knees, covering her face as she sobbed helplessly. 

She tried to calm down, but it was too hard for her. She wanted to go back to Rufus and tell him how she really felt, but she stopped herself and thought miserably, "Hey, Cloud's just in his room, I can go there and spill all my sadness since he's a good friend, but why would I wanna go to Rufus instead?" 

"You alright?"

Tifa heard the familiar voice and she immediately stood up and turned to the woman who asked her the friendly question.

It was Elena.

The female Turk smiled gently at Tifa. "I saw you run out of the house. I was standing by the gate coz I don't like to see Scarlet and the others and hear them make fun of me for brooding over… over someone…" she admitted.

Tifa thought for a while if she should really trust Elena, but the smile convinced her to smile back. She wiped her tears away. 

Elena approached her and patted her back gently. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Tifa nodded as she sniffed. "Yeah… but I've never been so insulted my whole life… it just hurt me… I mean, I know that what Scarlet had accused me of wasn't true, but in front of Rufus? It was all too much…" she explained miserably.

Elena smiled gently and shrugged. "So, would you like a cup of tea?" she asked.

Tifa shrugged. "I don't know… but if it'll make me feel better… okay," she replied before they went to the nearest coffee shop…


	11. Beyond Seven Chapter Ten

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Ten

______________________________________________________________ 

            Rufus raked his fingers through his hair as he got out of the bathroom and went to his bed. He was already wearing his pajamas made of expensive blue silk. He plopped down on his bed and Dark Nation jumped up the bed, snuggling close to him and whimpering. "Merrrwrgh…" she told him.

Rufus patted her head as he stared up at the high ceiling. "I know, Dark Nation… you want Tifa to be here?" he asked.

Dark Nation nodded.

Rufus smiled sadly. "Too bad, she isn't here…" he told her.

Dark Nation hid her head under the pillow and snarled.

"Get out of there, are you trying to suffocate yourself? You spoiled cat!" he scolded.

Dark Nation obeyed and looked up at him with a sneer. "Meowrh." She replied before she jumped off the bed and went to the beanbag on the floor and laid her head on it.

Rufus continued to stare at the ceiling. He sighed. The ticking clock eventually hypnotized him to close his eyes and drift off quietly into sleep… 

            _"Rufus?"_

Rufus opened his eyes and he found himself in an awfully-familiar place which gave him the creeps. "Oh no…" he muttered.

The Lifestream…

"Did I die?" he thought in panic. He tried to keep calm, but the whole place was beginning to freak him out.

Finally, Aerith appeared before him, surprising him and it made him jerk and gasp. Aerith giggled. "Sorry about that, Rufus," she said.

"You…" Rufus was about to say something, but he stopped himself when he remembered Cloud. "I've already spoken with your boyfriend, ya happy now?" he asked.

"Yes, I could see that…" she replied.

Silence.

Rufus looked around. "I can't be dead. I still have to do something…" he told her.

"Oh, you'll be back. All you have to do is learn something valuable for yourself and then you can come back here to take my place and don't worry, I'll take yours," she told him simply as if nothing else mattered.

"What the fuck do you mean by that?!" he demanded. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently. "Are you trying to tell me that I have to die so that you can live again? You are being selfish, you know?!" he hissed.

She smiled and her smile gave him the creeps. She somewhat looked scary because of the unusual glow from her face. "I know… just like you," she told him before she disappeared and reappeared again behind him

Rufus turned to face her with an angry look. He didn't know what to say. He sighed heavily and he could feel his heart beating faster. "Why me? Why not the others or… Hey! I know what! I'm not going to let you win! You are just taunting me, but the truth is, you can't really do anything. I'll just prevent myself from doing something that'll make me die." He told her angrily with a mocking smile.

"I don't think so, Rufus, because I think that you're already starting to do something to change yourself," she replied with a sweet smile.

"Oh yeah?" he challenged.

"You are falling in-love," she told him.

Rufus swallowed hard. "You're goddamn right, I am. Now wouldn't it be unfair to the person if I suddenly die?" he asked, thinking that at times like these, he should already be frank with the girl who's going to eventually take his place when he dies. For him, it was very unfair… like he's being used so that another person could benefit from it. "Heck, I **am** being used by this bitch!" he thought angrily to himself as he looked away from the Flower Girl. "What did I ever do to you?" he asked.

Aerith was surprised that he suddenly sounded helpless.

Rufus looked at her with hurtful eyes. "If you want Cloud, I can just kill him for you, just leave me alone. I need a new life and that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to change but then… then you're going to take my happiness away from me? I can't let that happen," he told her.

Aerith was silent for a while and she looked up. "I think they're calling for you already…" she said before she faded away…

            Rufus's eyes jerked open when he felt someone shaking him. "President Rufus!"

He sat up and scanned the room. It was already 9 in the morning and Elena was there, holding him and crying.

Rufus eyed her curiously. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Heidegger cheered happily. "Gyahaahahaha! He's alive! Thank God, he's alive!"

Reno sighed in relief.

Dark Nation climbed up the bed and snuggled close to Rufus and licked his face. 

"Hey, what's going on?" he demanded.

"President Rufus, I thought you've gone already!" Elena said.

"Gone where? I've been right here all along!" he snapped.

"Well, you usually wake up at around 6:30 and when it was already 8:00, we wondered why you're not up yet so we got up here and saw you lying on your bed unmoving… and you weren't breathing anymore! Oh, President Rufus, you got us really worried! You looked so pale and… and…" Elena began to cry again as she moved away from him.

Rufus was stunned. "Stupid Aerith…" he muttered.

"We're glad you're okay, President Rufus… otherwise…" Reno said with a weak smile.

"I was about to go out and call Tifa if you still didn't wake up…" Elena trailed off when she saw Scarlet giving her dagger looks.

Rufus raked his fingers through his hair. "Whatever…" he replied before he got up. "Get me Cloud Strife NOW! I have to talk to him." He told them.

"But…" Reno, Scarlet, Heidegger and Reeve began.

Rufus eyed them angrily. "I see, you don't want Strife here? Well then, leave me alone now. I'm gonna get dressed and take a walk around town." He told them before he entered the bathroom.

"Isn't it dangerous for him to walk around alone?" Scarlet asked in a hoarse whisper.

Dark Nation hissed at her.

"Darn it… well then follow him in secret!" Reeve stated.

"Who'll do it?" Reno asked.

"You and Elena." Scarlet said.

"Why us?! Are you crazy?" Elena screeched.

"SHHHHH!" Reno covered her mouth. She bit his hand which sent him running out of the room just to scream outside.

"Kya~! For all I know, he'll pass by that slut's house and visit her. I don't want to see that slut, you know? Kya…" Scarlet explained with a snobbish look on her face.

"Hey, if you ask me, Tifa isn't that bad!" Elena told them.

"Oh yeah? What's making you say that, girl?" Scarlet demanded.

"She's just a nice simple girl, that's all! And she isn't a slut." Elena stated defensively.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Scarlet asked.

"Leave Elena and Tifa alone," Rude said from one corner of the room.

All eyes turned to him. "Oh, so the bald guy spoke up! What should we do, listen? Gyahahahahahahaha!" Heidegger mocked.

They stopped talking when they heard a warning shot from behind them. They jerked and turned to the blonde man dressed in his old white suit from way back. "P…President Rufus," they had managed to say.

Rufus clutched his shotgun tightly. "I thought I told you to get out?" he asked angrily.

"I… uh…" Scarlet said before she bowed down her head.

"Gyahahahahahahaha! We're sorry, President Rufus," Heidegger said.

Rufus twitched. 

"But sir, where are you going?" Elena asked.

"None of your beeswax," Rufus snapped harshly before he went to the door. "Let's go, Dark Nation," he called.

The panther-like animal rushed to Rufus and before they got out of the room, she hissed at Scarlet, Heidegger and Reeve.

"What'd I do?" Reeve asked in confusion.

Dark Nation turned away snobbishly from him.

"Gyahahahaha!" Heidegger laughed.

"Stop that horse-laugh! It's annoying!" Rufus shouted from outside.

"Gya…" Heidegger bowed down his head.

*** 

            Rufus walked quickly out of the Mansion, not wanting to hear his 'employees' bicker further. Once out, he took a look around, deciding where to go. He just followed his instincts and walked wherever his feet would take him. 

The Nibelheim folk, Rufus was surprised and pleased to see, never gave him a second glance. 

"Well… If I were Cloud Strife, where would I be?…" He thought of the Inn, the bar, Tifa's house… but his thoughts were interrupted when he saw a little girl crying. 

He turned away. "Bah, why should I care?" he thought. But the little girl looked at him, and ran up to him. 

"Sniff… s'cuse me, Mister… I'm lost!!!" she said in between sobs. 

Rufus rolled his eyes, and tried to walk away. "Yes, that's nice, kid…" he muttered. 

"Please, mister! Help me!" she sobbed. 

Rufus sighed, and knelt down. "Fine, kid… What's your name? Who were you with, anyway?" he asked. "Maybe then you'll leave me alone…" he thought. 

"M-m… my name's Marlene, mister… I was with my Daddy…" the girl sobbed. 

Rufus thought the name was familiar. Marlene… "_Maybe it's the kid Reeve kidnapped…_ Yeah, what's your Daddy's name, then?" 

Marlene sniffled. "I-I-I… I don't know!! WAAAAH!!!!" she said, squeezing Rufus's hand. 

Rufus grunted, suddenly getting annoyed. "Ugh… you don't know your own Daddy's name?!?!?!" he said, irritation clearly in his voice. 

She sniffed, again. "Th-the C-c-captain calls him a smelly old bear, sir…" she said, hoping that would help her find her dad. 

Rufus thought for a while. "Nope… don't know anything about that." He told himself silently. "What captain?" he asked as he patted her head.

Dark Nation began to feel sleepy so she just sprawled on the floor.

Marlene looked at the big animal and smiled happily. "KITTY!" she cheered happily before she went to Dark Nation. 

Dark Nation looked up at the little girl and waited for her to embrace her and snuggle against her black fur. "Does she belong to you, Mister?" she asked happily.

Rufus hesitated for a while but he nodded his head. "Yeah… her name's Dark Nation. Been with me ever since I was 6 years old." He said.

"I think Red XIII would like her very much! Does she have kittens?" she asked happily as Dark Nation began to purr.

Rufus had never seen his pet so happy before in other people's presence. So far, Dark Nation's only been happy with him, Tifa and Marlene. He smiled and wondered if he could have children. He blushed slightly when he thought about having a family.

"Mister, does she have kittens?" Marlene repeated.

Rufus snapped out of his thoughts. "Kittens? Uh… no…" he replied.

"Does she ever go in heat?" she asked. Dark Nation jerked and her purr stopped.

Rufus scratched his head. "Who taught her that? Oh well…" he thought miserably as he forced himself to smile at the girl and answer without any trace of uneasiness. "I don't know… but sometimes, she really acts weird and she meows loudly like she sees monsters or whatever…" he replied.

"Oh, that would mean that she's in heat." Marlene replied.

Rufus nodded. "I see…" he said, pretending to be interested. 

Marlene patted Dark Nation's fur and the animal began to purr again. 

Rufus observed the little girl. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

Marlene looked up at Rufus. "Well… yeah… but it's okay, I can take starvation." She replied.

Rufus frowned. "Who the hell is her father and he still haven't fed her?" he thought as he flipped his hair and bent down to get Marlene and carried her up on his shoulder. "Let's go have breakfast first before we go look for your daddy." He said.

"Wheeee!" Marlene cheered happily, suddenly forgetting about her problem. "By the way, what's your name?" she asked.

Rufus smiled. "Rufus." He replied.

"You know what, you remind me of that bad man named Rufus ShinRa whom daddy hated so much. But anyway, you're different because you're a good man and you seem to love kids and pets." She said happily.

"Well what would you do if you found out that I am Rufus ShinRa?" he asked, rather jokingly.

"Hmm… Well then that'd prove my daddy wrong. You're such a kind man… but, are you?" she asked inquiringly with wide eyes, looking down at Rufus.

Rufus shrugged. "Yeah, I am Rufus ShinRa." He replied. He replied softly.


	12. Beyond Seven Chapter Eleven

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! …by the way, we don't hate Aerith. In fact, we hated it when she died… (WHY?????!!! ;_;)

Chapter Eleven

_______________________________________________________________ 

            Marlene looked outside the window of the restaurant, not really paying attention to Rufus. "Hey, Rufus, how come a red-headed man and a blonde woman kept followin' us all the way here and now they're hiding behind the bushes?" she asked.

Rufus frowned and turned to the bushes outside. "I don't see anyone…" he declared.

"Rufus,"

Marlene's face lit up as she looked up at the man who called Rufus's name. "Cloud!" she said happily.

Rufus looked up and frowned. "Oh, good, you're here. Take a seat." He told the spiky-haired blonde.

Cloud hesitated for a while but he finally took a seat beside Marlene. "Why's Barret's daughter with you?" he asked.

Rufus froze. "Barret?" he asked.

"Never mind… look, sorry if I had to leave early last night. I was just confused…" Cloud explained rather sheepishly.

Rufus remembered that he needed to tell Cloud something. "Listen, Strife, I have something to tell you. It's very important… it's about Aerith." He said.

Cloud stared at Rufus for a couple of minutes before he spoke up, "Shoot," he urged.

Rufus leaned back and stopped eating. "She visited me last night in a dream and told me that…" he stopped. "Should I trust this guy?" he thought silently. 

Cloud got Marlene's chocolate shake and took a sip. "Told you what?" he asked. Good thing Marlene didn't notice.

"I should… it's a matter of life and death…" Rufus decided silently before he spoke up again with a stern tone, "Aerith… she came to me in a dream last night. We were in the Lifestream…" 

Rufus being in the Lifestream with Aerith made Cloud listen more attentively. "The Lifestream? What…" 

Rufus cut him off. "She told me that I would learn something. I don't know what the hell it was about. But, she told me that once I find it out, she'll come back…" 

Cloud's eyes widened. "Really?" he said rather excitedly. Marlene, they didn't notice, was listening too. 

"Wow! Aerith's gonna come back?!" she said. 

Rufus continued. "But… I'll have to die. If she's going to live, I'd have to die." He replied.

Cloud was speechless.

"But why?" Marlene asked with a sad look on her face.

Dark Nation whimpered and snuggled her face against Rufus's leg.

Rufus looked down. "It wouldn't matter anyhow. I know how much you love your old girlfriend," he told Cloud, disgusted at himself when he mentioned the word _love_.

Then, Cloud looked up at the girl who just revealed herself from the booth behind Rufus. His eyes were wide in surprise. "Tifa," he started.

Upon hearing the name, Rufus lightened up but he stiffened when he thought he heard Aerith's voice chanting, "_Does it matter now?_"

Tifa remained seated in her place as she forced a smile. "So you have to die?" she asked.

Rufus couldn't bear to take a look at Tifa. "That's what the Flower Girl had told me…" he replied softly.

Cloud smiled and he stood up. He walked past Rufus but patted his back as he did so. "Thanks, Rufus." He said before he got out of the restaurant.

Marlene was looking at Rufus with teary eyes. "You have to die, Mister Rufus?" she asked with a trembling tone.

Rufus couldn't take the pressure. "Damn it! I'm not even sick!" he thought angrily to himself.

Tifa bit her lower lip as she stared blankly at the floor. "Don't think of it as dying, Marlene… he's just going to a journey and… and we'll just see him again after so many years…" she began.

Tifa wanted to punch herself for being so ridiculous. It's only been a few days since she had known Rufus and she had already developed this crush on him. "I hate my life…" she muttered before she got up and ran out.

Rufus sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter anyway." He told Marlene.

"_Are you sure?"_

Aerith again.

Rufus looked up. "Leave me alone…" he muttered under his breath.

He could hear Aerith giggling from a distance.

***

            Elena saw Tifa rush out of the restaurant and followed Cloud. "What's she up to now?" Reno asked her.

Elena got up from their hiding place and decided to follow Tifa.

Cloud heard some footsteps from behind him so he turned around. The moment he did so, he received a strong blow on the jaw which sent him down to the hard floor.

Tifa was already crying. "How could you say 'thank you'?!" she demanded angrily.

Cloud stood up, rubbing his jaw. "I don't know about you, Tifa, but we should be celebrating because Aerith is going to come back!" he snapped.

"B…but what about Rufus?" she asked.

Cloud simply shrugged. "I don't know… he's gonna die for Aerith. At least we know that he would be dying for a good reason." He said simply, trying to ignore the pain his jaw is feeling. 

Tifa inhaled sharply. "I don't believe you, Cloud! How did you grow to be so…. So…. COLD-BLOODED?!" she yelled, making everyone turn their heads and look at the scene. Elena stopped in her tracks, shocked at the sudden anger Tifa was expressing to an old friend. 

Cloud looked back at her with mixed emotions of anger and confusion. "Wha-WHAT?! How dare you…" he gripped his sword, but he stopped when he heard a voice from somewhere, saying, "_Don't! Please!"_

His eyes grew wide in surprise. "A…Aerith…" he whispered in disbelief. He turned around but there was no sign of Aerith. "Aerith! Where are you?" he called out.

Tifa was stunned but she continued to speak up, "Cloud, I know how much you love Aerith but what about me?" she asked.

Cloud turned to her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"If Rufus dies… what about me?" Tifa asked before she turned away. She covered her face and she could feel the cold breeze blowing suddenly against her.

Elena and Reno were surprised. 

From behind a tall post, Rufus and Marlene stood there quietly listening.

Dark Nation was hiding in a dark alley, her eyes suddenly wide in awe and her tail wagging frantically like she was mad or something.

"You're only saying that because you're confused." Cloud said finally, then turned to Reno and Elena. "What are you looking at, you Turks?" he demanded.

Tifa removed her hands from her face and looked at Reno and Elena.

"Cloud, can't you at least… consider Tifa's feelings?" Elena asked with a stern tone.

Cloud sneered at her. "Look, I know that this girl likes me for a long time already but…" before he could continue, Elena rushed to him and punched his face. "You're only saying that because you don't know how it feels like to lose someone you love dearly!" she snapped.

"What? You think it didn't hurt me when Aerith died? I just kept quiet but deep inside, I was…" Cloud couldn't continue anymore. Memories of Aerith began to flood his mind again.

Elena was already crying; thinking about Tseng and how she would not be able to see him again made her feel so down.

Rufus bowed down. He knew that Tifa and Cloud had been together ever since childhood and it made him feel a little jealous when he recalled that Tifa had feelings for that spiky-haired moron. Then, he noticed that Marlene was already crying. "Why are you crying?" he asked as he bent down and got a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her tears away. "Good people don't deserve to die, Rufus… and you're one of them," she said as she sniffed.

Rufus smiled gently at the little girl and embraced her tightly. "But this is for Cloud." He replied.

Then, Marlene noticed the handkerchief. "Mister Rufus… how come your hanky is pink?" she asked.

Rufus was stunned as he let go of the little girl and stared at his handkerchief. It was pink. He unfolded it, revealing the initials T.L. embroidered in one corner. His eyes grew wide.

"_Now, Rufus… what can you say?" _Aerith asked him from somewhere.

Rufus clenched his fists, remembering the time when his mother died. It was the day that changed his life and it also made him realize how hard it was to lose someone whom he loves dearly.

"I can't take this… I can't… I can't…" he muttered in a voice so low, only he could hear it. 

Before he knew it, he was already rushing to Cloud and he pushed him down to the floor. "You idiot!" he yelled.

"Rufus!" Tifa had managed to say.

"I've never seen anyone so selfish than me and my goddamn father! You're worse than me!" Rufus told Cloud angrily.

Tifa went to him and pulled him away from Cloud. 

Cloud stood up in annoyance as he dusted himself. "You're nuts!" he said.

"Oh yeah?!" Rufus challenged.

"I reckon you're the one who's gone mad!" Reno snapped at Cloud.

"Oh, and suddenly you are on Tifa's side?" Cloud told him.

"Better than yours, Strife. After all, as a loyal servant of President Rufus, I would only long for his happiness and I can see that in Tifa!" Reno said, making the others look at him. 

Cloud gritted his teeth. "Coming from you, Reno, I wouldn't count on that…" he muttered. Not wanting to say anymore, he stormed off the scene. But before he could go, he heard Aerith's voice again: "_Cloud… Watch what you say…"_

He inhaled sharply before he left completely. 


	13. Beyond Seven Chapter Twelve

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Twelve

__________________________________________________________________ 

            "This is crazy… first you claim to have heard Aerith's voice and then you're saying that she's comin' back and then you got yourself into a mess with Tifa, Rufus, Elena and Reno! How stupid can you get?" Barret snapped.

Yuffie carefully applied the ointment on Cloud's bruised face.

"@#$%^$#! And what's Tifa doing on that ShinRa brat's side?" Cid demanded.

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?" Cloud muttered with a mean look on his face. "By the way, Barret, your daughter's with them." He said.

Barret wanted to faint. "What the… you mean… WHAT?! @#@$^$" he began to curse.

"Shut the f*ck up!" Cid snapped.

"But…but… my daughter…" Barret stated.

"Rufus wouldn't do anything to the little girl, trust me," Vincent told them with a serious tone.

"Easy for you to say, you were one of them!" Barret snapped.

Vincent ignored him.

"You know, I think you guys should quit yapping about today. Cloud looks really tired and he needs to rest." Yuffie suggested.

Cloud looked around. "Say, where's Red XIII?" he asked…

*** 

            "Meowrrr…" Dark Nation uneasily flipped her tail back and forth as she remained seated on the couch.

Marlene looked at the giant cat and said, "Mr. Rufus, I think your kitty senses someone coming," she said quietly, trying not to irritate anybody in the room, because everybody—Rufus, Elena, Reno, Rude, Heidegger, Scarlet and Reeve—seemed so stressed out about the day's trouble.

"Kya~! That Strife should die, you know?" Scarlet said.

"Shut up. It's not his fault he's **that** desperate for Gainsborough…" Rufus sneered, then turning to Dark Nation and Marlene. "I think we'd better get you back to your daddy," he told Marlene.

Marlene nodded sadly.

"Who's her daddy?" Reeve asked.

"I don't know," Rufus lied as he stood up and carried Marlene up on his shoulder. Dark Nation followed after them.

The moment they got out of the house, Rufus sighed heavily and smiled. "You know what, you are very lucky to have a daddy like Barret. He loves you so much." He told her.

"Yep! He's a good daddy and I love him too!" she replied cheerfully. Then, she looked down at Rufus. "What about you, Rufus? Where's your daddy?" she asked.

Rufus's eyes narrowed and anger began to fill his mind. He wanted to say, "He's burning in hell", but instead, he just said, "He's dead." He told her.

"Do you miss him?" she asked.

Rufus thought for a while, "No." he said sternly.

"Why?" she asked.

"What a stubborn kid… when'll she shut up?" he thought angrily. He sighed. "Geez… he's bad. He killed my mother." He explained with a trembling tone.

"Oh… I'm sorry…" she replied sadly.

He nodded glumly. "It's okay…" he said simply as he looked up at the dark clouds. "It's going to rain…" he thought.

"Don't you want to forgive him?" she asked.

For Rufus, that had been one of the stupidest questions everyone could ever ask him, but this time, Marlene made him think. He looked down and his expression softened. "Forgive my father?" he asked.

"Because Aerith told me before that when you hold a grudge against someone, you're only making yourself suffer and it would seem like your soul's being chained to the wall and you cannot be free forever." She explained.

"She's right…" Rufus thought silently.

Then, he stopped and turned to Dark Nation but she wasn't there. "W…where's Dark Nation?" he asked. Then, he saw Dark Nation running to the other direction. Rufus put down Marlene. "Let's go." He told her as he went after Dark Nation. Rufus could easily recognize the streets… and everything became clear to him when he finally saw Tifa's house.

Dark Nation pounded her paw against the door until Tifa opened it.

"Kitty!" she said.

Dark Nation saw the puffiness in her eyes and she whimpered. "Mew…" she said as she snuggled against Tifa's leg. Tifa smiled sadly as she bent down and embraced the big cat.

Marlene came up to them. "Tifa! Kitty!" she said happily.

"Marlene," Tifa said in disbelief.

Rufus was several steps behind and he was about to run to them but someone spoke up from behind him. "Don't tell me you're going to see that slut again?"

He recognized the voice and it made him feel annoyed all of a sudden. "Are you following me, Scarlet?" he demanded angrily.

Scarlet ignored his question. "I'm warning you, President ShinRa…" she began. "If you still insist on seeing that… that…" she pointed at Tifa. "SLUT, then ShinRa's never ever going to live again!!! She's holding you back—holding US back!!!" 

Rufus glared at her with his icy blue eyes, now flaring with inexpressible rage. "What? How dare…" 

Tifa led Marlene and Dark Nation inside her house, unaware of the trouble between Rufus and Scarlet from a few yards away. 

"All I wanted to happen was to put ShinRa back in its rightful place! To make it the most superior thing on the whole Planet… I am not going to let Tifa take that dream away from you!" Scarlet told Rufus.

"What did Tifa ever do to you?" he asked in annoyance.

"She was a member of AVALANCHE!" she replied.

"**WAS** a member of AVALANCHE! Take note of the past tense, Scarlet! Didn't you learn that in English class?" Rufus sneered.

"Who knows, she's from the slums and she might just be using you so that she can get your money!" she snapped.

"You're crazy!" Rufus snapped.

"I am just trying to help! I'm only doing what your father had wanted to happen." She told him.

"Why would you think that I'd want to make that—that bastard happy?! You think I want to do what he wants me to do? No! I can't even bring myself to call him 'father' without forcing myself to!" Rufus harshly said. 

"What? Well, that's too bad, you brat! You're out of his own flesh and blood! You have to run ShinRa Inc., whether you like it or not!" Scarlet replied. 

Rufus had had it with her nagging. He punched her face, sending her crashing to the nearby wall of another house. "SHUT UP!" 

The rain began to pour down.

Rufus approached her and collared her. "How would you feel if someone had prevented you from loving someone whom you believe in?" he demanded. He sneered at her, "My father did that to me and my mother and it wasn't good. Now that he's gone, you're here telling me that ShinRa needs to climb up to the top again and while on the process, you want me to stop seeing Tifa? How could you do this to me, Scarlet? I thought that a loyal servant would only wish for her master's happiness, but how come you are preventing it from happening to me?" His eyes narrowed at her, "I trust Lockheart and if I would climb up to the top again, I'd do it with her by my side… and if you and the others won't allow that, I would just have to give up all the luxuries I've had even before I was born in this sick sad world and live the simple life with her, if that would mean that I could be happier!" he released her, making her back hit the hard wall. 

He took one last look at her before he walked away, going to Tifa's house.

Scarlet staggered angrily. "President Rufus! You don't know what you're saying! Even your mother wouldn't agree to this!" she screamed.

What she said made him stop in his tracks. "Wh…what…" he thought. He was already facing the front door of Tifa's house when he heard that. He somewhat hesitated. He knew he needed answers but who could answer his questions; his mother's been dead for several years now. He clenched his fists, holding back himself from knocking.

But, the door suddenly opened and there was Tifa. "Rufus, what are you doing here? I thought I sensed someone near my door and…" she stopped talking when she saw the cold look on his face.

"Where's Dark Nation?" he asked.

"Sh…she's," she began.

"Dark Nation," Rufus called out.

The black panther came out from the kitchen and approached him. Rufus led the way outside. Dark Nation wasn't sure if she should follow him or not, but Rufus yelled at her, "You stupid cat! Let's go!"

Dark Nation's tail drooped and she took one last look at Tifa before following Rufus.

"Rufus," Tifa said softly.

He kept on walking. 

Tifa looked down as she clenched her fists. She could feel her tears forming in her eyes. "Rufus," she whispered.

Rufus didn't look back; he continued to walk away with Dark Nation following sadly from behind him. She kept on whimpering but Rufus stopped her by saying, "Stop that, it's getting annoying."

Dark Nation bowed her head.

Rufus kept on walking until he reached the ShinRa Mansion. The moment he got inside, everyone shot him weird stares but he kept on walking up the stairs until he reached his bedroom. He didn't let Dark Nation in.

Rufus went to the dresser and looked at himself in the mirror. 

"_No one's ever seen you bleed or cry…_"

Those words whirled through his mind as he smiled sadly. "Well now, I'm crying… I can see it." He said aloud.


	14. Beyond Seven Chapter Thirteen

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Thirteen

___________________________________________________________________________ 

                  Tifa got inside her house and she was really drenched. She wiped her tears away with the back of her trembling right hand as she headed straight to the kitchen. 

Marlene smiled happily at her. "Hi, Tifa! Where have you been?" she asked.

Tifa gestured to the hallway leading to the front door. "Outside. There was someone there." she said before she sat down beside Marlene and sniffed.

The little girl studied Tifa's face. "Are you okay? Have you been crying?" she asked.

Tifa forced a smile and shook her head immediately. "N…no! Why would I be crying anyway? I'm not even sad," she lied.

Marlene looked down. "Where's Dark Nation?" she asked.

Tifa sighed heavily as she poured herself a cup of tea. "I…uh… Rufus arrived and he fetched her. He's in a hurry." She told her.

Marlene giggled.

Tifa turned to her. "What's so funny?" she asked.

Marlene smiled and blushed slightly. "I could've sworn that you like Rufus! Heeheehee!" she said happily.

Tifa blushed and forced a kind smile at her. "What made you say that, Marlene?" she asked.

"I don't know, just a hunch…" she replied.

Tifa shook her head in disbelief.

"And you know what?" Marlene asked.

Tifa looked at Marlene again. "What?" she asked.

Marlene replied naughtily, "I think Rufus likes you too!" she said. Tifa's blush worsened. "Damn… this is not the time to listen to this girl's teasing… you should be in your room crying your eyes out but instead you're listening to this little girl tease your head off…" she scolded herself as she forced a happy smile at Marlene.

*** 

                  Rufus had changed to dry clothes after a few moments of arriving home and immediately, he ordered that a bottle of tequila and a wine glass should be delivered to the music room.

When Elena got there and placed everything on the coffee table, she turned to Rufus with a sad look on her face. "Is everything okay, President Rufus?" she asked.

"Don't call me _President_, Elena." He snapped as he poured himself a glass of tequila. 

Elena observed him carefully. "Isn't that very strong stuff?" she asked.

"I know that, that's why I like it," he told her.

"Shouldn't you be using a shot glass instead?" she asked.

He gulped down the contents and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "No." he replied simply before he walked to the piano, feeling a little woozy. 

"Stupid Strife… stupid Gainsborough… stupid daddy… stupid everyone… EVERYONE!" he shouted angrily as he pounded on the keys violently.

Elena looked down. "Did Scarlet say something bad to you?" she asked, knowing that Rufus wasn't that used to drinking too much so he gets drunk easily. Asking questions after a glass of tequila should be easier for her.

"Yeah," he replied simply as he stood up again and twirled around to face her with a playful smile on his lips. "She told me that if mommy was still alive, she'd tell me, _'Oh, Ruffy, stay away from that girl, she'll bring about the downfall of ShinRa.'_" He mimicked.

"Who's the girl?" Elena asked.

"You know the lovely girl from AVALANCHE?" he asked as he began to drink again.

"Aerith, Yuffie or Tifa?" she asked inquiringly.

"Aerith, Yuffie or Tifa? Hahahahaha! You mention her name beautifully, Elena. Say it again!" he said before he gulped down the contents of the glass and then poured himself another.

"Which one? Aerith, Yuffie or…" Elena trailed off on purpose.

Rufus's eyes grew wide. "TIFA LOCKHEART! For cryin' out loud!" he told her as he searched for old music pieces and got one of the pages of an old music sheet with a blank back. He got a pen from his pocket. He began to hum a tune as he doodled. Then, he began to sing the tune, "_So let me come to you, close as I wanna be; close enough for me to feel your heart beating fast. And stay there as I whisper how I love your peaceful eyes on me… but did you ever know that I had mine on you?"_ he stopped singing and showed Elena the sketch that he made. "This is Tifa." He told her.

Elena scanned the drawing. It looked good… it looked exactly like Tifa. She was amazed at how talented Rufus could be and felt delighted for Tifa.

Rufus handed her the drawing. "Will you search for my First Lady?" he asked.

"Man, he's worse than Heidegger and Reno combined when drunk…" she thought to herself.

Finally, Rufus went to the piano. "Get out of here," he commanded.

Elena rushed to the door, but before she got out, she smiled at Rufus and said in a very convincing manner, "Your mother was a good woman. I'm sure she'd approve of Miss Lockheart. After all, she'd only want the best for you," 

Rufus stared at the keys uneasily and then he flipped his hair before he started playing and singing, "_Millionaire say, 'got a big shot deal' and thrown it all away; but, but I'm not too sure how I'm supposed to feel or what I'm supposed to say; but I'm not, not sure, not too sure how it feels to handle everyday…and I miss you, love…"_

He paused for a while but continued with tear-stained eyes and trembling hands. "_Make room for the prey coz I'm comin' in with what I wanna say, but it's gonna hurt; and I love the pain; a breeding ground for hate; but, I'm not, not sure, not too sure how it feels to handle everyday like the one that just passed in the crowds of all the people…"_ He looked straight ahead, seeing the rain pouring down from outside. "_Remember today, I've no respect for you; and I miss you, love… and I miss you, love…"_

Outside, Elena, Reno and Rude listened to him singing and playing the piano. "That's the song he sang with Tifa in the bar one evening…" Reno told them.

Rude nodded.

Elena smiled secretly.

Finally, Rufus continued. "_I love the way you love, but I hate the way I'm supposed to love you back…"_ He stopped singing when he felt the tears falling from his face.

Was he crying due to the fact that he's been holding back those tears ever since his mother died or was it because of all the disappointments in his life?

He wasn't sure, but he just let himself cry. He smiled bitterly as he sang without accompaniment, "_I love the way you love but I hate the way I'm supposed to love you back…"_

He looked down and clenched his fists. "Tifa," he whispered.

*** 

                  "Gee, thanks for letting me stay over for the night, Tifa! I sure like your house!" Marlene said as she was tucked in bed. 

"Yeah, don't mention it, Marlene. I wouldn't want us to go over to your daddy's and get soaked by the rain…" Tifa replied weakly, but she forced a cheery smile. 

Marlene sat up. "Are you sure you're all right, Tifa?" 

"Yes, I am all right, Marlene, like I told you before. I'm…" Tifa yawned. "a-alright…" 

"You're sleepier than I am! Hey, as a change of pace," Marlene said in the best adult way she could say, "Why don't I read you a bedtime story? Then I could play Tifa, and you could play Marlene!!!"

Tifa shook her head. "I don't think so…" she replied before yawning. Her eyes still looked puffy. "I'm sleepy…" she admitted.

"C'mon, just one bedtime story?" Marlene asked.

Tifa sighed heavily as she tucked her in. "Okay… I'll tell the story, okay?" she asked.

"No! I'll tell the story!" Marlene presented cheerfully as she sat up again. Tifa sighed heavily as she plopped down on the bed. "Okay. I'll be the little girl and you'll be the adult." She said.

Marlene giggled. "Okay! Ahem…" she prepared herself before she spoke up again with a happy tone. "Once upon a time there was beautiful girl living in the slums. She met this handsome young uhm… uh… President from the rich people and they fell in-love with each other and they got married and had a happy family and that's the end of the story! Heeheehee!" 

Tifa pretended to be asleep so Marlene shook her. "Hey!" she said in annoyance.

Tifa giggled and opened her eyes again. "Hahahaha! I heard your story… but why is it short?" she asked.

"Nah… I'm sleepy now… g'night!" Marlene said before she turned over.

Tifa was stunned for a while, then switched off the lamp light. 

"Hey, you know what, Rufus wants me to tell you to dream of him tonight!" Marlene told her.

Tifa blushed. "Dream of him tonight… silly…" she thought miserably.

Later on, she still wasn't able to sleep…


	15. Beyond Seven Chapter Fourteen

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! 

Chapter Fourteen

_____________________________________________________ 

            Cloud was going back to the inn from the bar. He just drowned his sorrows with some wine, hoping that alcohol would make him forget all that has happened ever since he went back to Nibelheim. He was thankful that Tifa didn't work that night; but he never stayed that long anyway. 

"Why bother getting drunk? This would all end well, if Aerith comes back…" he thought. 

If?… 

"WHEN Aerith comes back…" he corrected himself out loud. He shook his head, trying to make himself get rid of the doubts building up in his mind. 

"I'm going crazy again…" he muttered. 

He entered the inn, walking to the receptionist. 

The receptionist smiled cheerfully at him. "Mr. Strife?" she asked. 

"Yeah, I'd like to get my key?" he replied. 

"Oh, okay, but before that, some people are waiting for you over there," she pointed to the small breakfast hall. "They came in here earlier, says they have something important to say, so I let them wait there."

"Damn it…" Cloud muttered before he headed for them. "What do you want?" he asked them with a glum tone.

"Hi, Cloud! How are you doing?" Yuffie greeted with a smile on her face.

"We've been looking for you coz we want to ask you where Tifa is," Barret told him.

Cloud stopped in his tracks. "Why bother?" he asked.

"And Marlene." Vincent continued.

Cloud was silent for a while. And he shook his head. "I don't know where she is right now…" he told them.

"Cloud, what's going on?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, what the %^*$ is going on?! Are you hiding something from us?" Cid demanded as he faced Cloud.

Cloud sighed heavily and his eyes narrowed at them. "Aerith is going to come back… but Rufus needs to die for her." he explained.

"Die? How can that… what? He is alive?" Barret, Cid and Yuffie all said in unison.

"He is alive. He's been given a chance to change himself and after he does that, even without him realizing it, he has to die." Cloud told them.

"H…how?" Vincent asked with a deep frown.

"I can just kill him." Cloud said without a trace of emotion on his face. 

The room suddenly fell silent. Barret disturbed this by saying, "Cloud? You… you can't be serious, foo'. That's…. That just isn't like you!" 

Cloud shrugged. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes," he said, "WHATEVER it takes, just to get Aerith back to this Planet, with us! And Rufus knows this, he wouldn't mind!" 

Cid threw his cigarette to the floor angrily. "YOU &^%$! What makes you think that when Rufus says he'll die for a girl who was once his %$#*& enemy, he wouldn't mind?! You're a &^$&%* for even thinkin' that!!!" he screamed. 

"Yeah, Cloud! I thought you'd be the one who'll hesitate to kill his enemies on purpose!" Yuffie piped up. 

Cloud was surprised at their reactions. "… Since when were you all on ShinRa's side?" he said in a scary and low voice. 

"We're not on ShinRa's side, and we don't care about ShinRa and the shit that they did in the past, it's just unfair for… for Rufus!" Yuffie told him with a look of disgust on her face.

"Shut up, will you, Yuffie? I don't care anymore! Didn't you even realize the sadness that I felt when Aerith died? Hah? Didn't ya?!" Cloud shouted.

Everyone was already looking at them.

"Can't we just talk outside? Everyone's getting suspicious…" Vincent told them with a stern look.

"I don't care about everyone anymore." Cloud told him.

Barret was already beginning to get impatient. "You are worse than ShinRa," he began.

"Wh…what about Tifa?" Yuffie asked.

Cloud shook his head. "Let her be. But once Aerith is back, we'll take her with us so that she could forget about ShinRa." He told them.

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked.

Vincent's eyes narrowed at Cloud. "I thought that girl hated ShinRa?" he asked.

"Everything's different now. You know Tifa, she sees something good in everyone once she starts trusting them… I guess Rufus was very unlucky to know a girl like Tifa." Cloud replied before he turned away.

Cid pulled him back to them and made him face them before he knocked three times on Cloud's head. "Hello? Is Cloud Strife there? How come he sounds different? What the %$^*& is up with ya?!" he demanded.

Cloud pushed him away from himself. "Damn it! Stay out of my way!" he snapped angrily at them.

Barret finally lost his temper. He stomped his way to Cloud, fumbling his gun-arm and placing materia in his weapons. He grabbed Cloud by the collar. 

"LISTEN HERE, you spiky headed white-ass jerk! We've just had about enough of yer yappin' 'bout bringin' Aerith back from the dead! Now, git yer sorry self out of here! I'ma try ta knock you back to your senses!!!!!" he screamed. 

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise as Barret spoke, but he surprised everyone else when he unsheathed his sword so suddenly, causing Barret to fall on his back. 

"Fine!" he said, accepting the challenge. 

Cid, Vincent and Yuffie were left stunned. "B-Barret? Is this a good idea?" Yuffie stammered. 

Barret stood back up. "I dunno. But if it'll bring this clod back to reality, I'm willing to do it…" 

Outside the inn, a light drizzle began to fall. Cloud wore a bangle, the materia glimmering in their place. Cid, Vincent and Yuffie watched, potions and medicines ready, just in case. 

"You ready yet, Strife?" Barret asked gruffly. 

"Yeah, whatever! But first," Cloud said, his hands forming a spell, "A pre-battle warm up!" He threw a fire spell at Barret. 

The AVALANCHE leader managed to block this with his gun-arm. "You'll need more than that to throw me off-guard, white-boy. Taste this!" He fired several bullets at Cloud, some hitting his shoulder. 

Cloud winced and held his shoulder. "FIRAGA!" he screamed. 

A large pillar of fire hit Barret, sending him screaming and crashing to the ground. "AAAGH!!!" It took him a while to recover. 

Cloud took this opportunity to cast another spell. "Take this… FIRAJA!!!" (*means Fire4*) Barret gasped, but he evaded it, just barely. 

"… I'm not done with you yet…" he muttered. Several green spheres appeared and floated around him, making Cloud break into a sweat. 

"… I summon thee from yer ice… SHIVA!!!" Barret stated, sending a chilling cold blast of Blizzard, Shiva herself along with it. She opened her eyes, wondering why she was going to freeze the being that once summoned her, but she blasted him with a powerful ice spell anyway. Cloud screamed, flying across the grounds with ice shards, and crashed at the trashcans, making a horrible noise. 

Barret breathed heavily, expecting Cloud to come out of the rubble. But, the dust settled, and still, the man didn't get up. 

"… I think you hurt him." Vincent said simply, as if not really expecting much from this battle. 

Hearing this, Barret, Cid and Yuffie rushed to the trashcans. 

"Yo, Cloud, you awright?" 

"Cloud! Come on up!" 

"Hey, get up, Cloud!!!" Cid said, throwing a hi-potion on where he guessed Cloud would be. 

A few seconds of total silence passed. The light drizzle eventually became a huge downpour. And suddenly, a blue-and-yellow blur rose from the rubble and tackled at Barret with full force. 

Yuffie screamed out of surprise. "CLOUD!" she shouted, when she realized that Cloud was stabbing Barret violently, repeatedly, with his huge sword. 

"GODDAMN YOU! SCREW YOU BIG FAT ASS! GO TO HELL AND DON'T YOU EVER SHOW YOUR BIG FAT FACE TO ME AGAIN, YOU BIG FAT PIECE OF SHIT!" Cloud shouted hysterically.

Vincent, Cid and Yuffie weren't able to do anything about it. All they could do was watch in horror as they watched Barret die a horrible, violent death, his blood splattered all over Cloud's hands and his face.

Vincent pushed Yuffie away. "Go to the ShinRa Mansion, hurry up!" he told her.

Yuffie hesitated for a while but she quickly ran away. She was already crying.

Cloud followed her with his gaze. "Yuffie!" he called out.

Vincent backed off a little before he jumped up in the air and landed on one of the roofs. He took one last look at Cloud before he went off, heading to a place where he would expect Cloud to be heading to.

Cloud wiped his face with the back of his hand and there was this deranged look in his eyes.

Cid just stared at him. "What the fuck have you done to your friend?" he demanded.

Cloud eyed him before he ran off.

"Cloud!" Cid went after him.

*** 

            Yuffie began knocking hysterically at the ShinRa Mansion's front door. "Help! Please?" she called out.

"Yuffie,"

Yuffie turned around and smiled happily upon seeing Red XIII. "Red! W…where have you been, we've been looking for you?" she asked before she rushed to him.

Red XIII studied her crying face. "What's going on? You look so troubled," he said.

"Cloud's crazy! He did something bad… he killed Barret!" Yuffie explained while trying to control her tears.

They froze when someone opened the door. "Wh…what the hell is going on in here?"

Yuffie and Red XIII turned to the door but they didn't know what to do. "P…President Rufus… we need to see President Rufus," she told the redhead who just opened the door.

Reno scratched his head while his teeth remained clenched upon seeing the two. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Yuffie approached him. "We need help, it's regarding Cloud Strife." She explained.

"Reno, what's going on?" Elena asked as she rushed down the stairs in her sleepwear. 

"AVALANCHE members asking for help at 2:00 in the morning," Reno replied before he turned to Elena.

Elena joined him and took a good look at Yuffie and Red XIII. "What kind of help?" she asked with a frown.

Reno eyed the two angrily before he stormed inside again.

Before Yuffie and Red XIII could speak up, Rufus arrived by the door wearing his blue pajamas and his blue robe. "What's all the ruckus?" he demanded with an annoyed look. His eyes looked a little droopy and his head ached a little because of the hangover, but his eyes grew wide in surprise when he saw Yuffie and Red XIII. 

From behind Rufus, Dark Nation followed closely behind. She snarled at the sight of Yuffie and Red XIII.

"What are they doing here?" Rufus asked, turning to Elena.

"I… I don't know, sir. They said that they need help…" Elena trailed off when Yuffie spoke up, "You gotta help us! Cloud just killed Barret!!! And… and…" she stuttered, thinking of a good reason to come there. "And… YOU!" she pointed to Rufus. "He'll come after you and kill you too so that Aerith could come back!" she continued as more tears streamed down from her face.

Rufus's eyed grew wide, remembering Marlene, Barret's daughter… and Tifa. 

He flipped his hair and turned to Dark Nation. "You, go to Tifa." He commanded as he patted her head.

Dark Nation nodded and rushed out of the house and jumped across the high wall.

"I'll go with her," Red XIII told them before he followed Dark Nation.

Rufus rushed up the stairs, back to his room and quickly changed his clothes. After doing so, he got to the garage and got inside one of the expensive cars and drove out to the main driveway in front of the main door of his house. He rolled down one of the windows and turned to Elena. "Take Yuffie inside. Don't do anything stupid to her or else…" he threatened before he finally drove off from the ShinRa Mansion, out to the streets of Nibelheim going to Tifa's house.

When he arrived there, Marlene was seated by the front porch, crying her eyes out. Rufus got down from the car and ran to her. "Marlene," he began with a worried tone. The first thing he did was to pick her up in his arms and hug her tightly, as if to comfort her. "Rufus!" she said helplessly as she continued to sob.

"Wh…what happened? Where's Dark Nation? Where's Red XIII?" he asked.

Marlene faced him with a worried look on her face. "They're inside… Cloud hurt them real bad… it was scary… and he… he…" she trailed off.

Rufus put her down. "What about Tifa?" he asked as he rushed inside.

The rain began to pour down hard outside. 

Marlene wiped her tears away as she followed Rufus inside.

"Tifa!" Rufus called out.

He looked around the living room and the kitchen. "Goddamn it! Where's Tifa?" he shouted angrily.

Marlene went to Rufus and tugged at his trench coat. "Mister Cid and Mister Vincent arrived here before Cloud could… they told Tifa to go to you." She explained.

"But why are you here?' He asked with worry in his eyes. 

The coldness from his eyes finally disappeared and too much concern filled them.

"So that it wouldn't seem that they really told Tifa to go to you." She replied.

Rufus didn't understand that but he just picked up the little girl in his arms again. "Let's get out of here," he told her.

"Rufus, where's daddy?" she asked.

Rufus froze, remembering what Yuffie had told him, but he tried to change the subject. "What about Cid and Vincent? Where are they?" he asked.

"Mister Cid chased Cloud away from here… and I think Mister Vincent went with Tifa." Marlene explained.

From one corner of the room, Rufus saw Red XIII dragging a severely injured Dark Nation.

Rufus clenched his fists in total annoyance. "STRIFE!" he said through clenched teeth.


	16. Beyond Seven Chapter Fifteen

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! … by the way, back to one of the past chapters when Rufus sang something which Tifa had also performed in the bar, the title is "Miss You Love" by Silverchair… (Quistis's note: it's my favorite song… ;_;)

Chapter Fifteen

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            "Shit… thank the heavens, I lost him…" Cid thought silently as he peeked out from the bushes. He looked around but there was no sign of Cloud. "Man, that fuckin' guy's gone berserk!" he muttered as he finally got out from the bushes. Dawn was slowly breaking and early-risers were already on the streets of Nibelheim ready to start their work.

Cid continued to walk down the streets until he reached the inn. He stopped in his tracks, remembering what happened last night. "Poor big guy…" he thought silently with a bitter look on his face as he recalled Barret's death. He sighed heavily. "I wonder where they took the body… I sure hope they buried it properly." He thought as he got inside the inn.

The man standing by the receptionist smiled at him. "Hello, Mister Highwind." The man greeted.

Cid nodded his head in greeting, thinking that the man was a member of the staff. "I'm sure you have some knowledge about the murder that happened last night?" he asked.

"Yes, I do… everyone in this town does… and we're really very afraid of him…" the man explained with a nervous look.

Cid shrugged. "As much as I'd hate to admit it… I'm also afraid of Cloud now…" he thought silently. "About Barret…" Cid trailed off when the man spoke up again. "Oh, we already buried Mister Wallace. He looked so horrible… does he have any living relatives?"

Cid remembered Marlene. "Well, he has a daughter… but we don't know where the hell she is… she got lost in the streets one day…" he explained with a sad look.

The man nodded his head. "I'm sorry to hear about that… you know, things have been going up and down these days in Nibelheim ever since President Rufus came back alive. We're really surprised, you know… I mean, the last time we saw him, he was just a little boy… the poor lad lost his mother due to an accident. Everyone from ShinRa claimed that she had fallen down the stairs while carrying a gun and then she accidentally shot herself… we don't believe that tale, though… we think that Rufus's father had something to do with the First Lady's death. It was really sad for everyone because Rufus used to be such a happy little boy who loved his mother very much… oh well, so much for that… but anyway, I feel a little bit glad for him now. I believe he's having a change of heart… though in the past, I really didn't really consider him as the evil incarnate of his father." He explained with a wink.

Cid forced a laugh. "The hell with that… but it really is surprising that he's alive… usually bad people would just die." He stated flatly.

"Oh, you know how fate plays with our lives… but usually, when you have been a bad person, you're given another chance to mend things." The man said.

Cid studied the man, thinking of him as familiar-looking. He frowned slightly. "Who the fuck are you? You sure remind me of someone from ShinRa." He told him.

The man simply smiled and shrugged then turned away. "Just think of me as a friend from now on." The man replied before he got out of the inn.

Cid was stunned but he didn't get the chance to react when he heard a voice calling from somewhere. "What the…" he began.

"_Cid,_" 

Cid looked around but there was no one else there except for the receptionist who just fell asleep on the job. His frown deepened as he turned his gaze to the direction of the Church. He suddenly had an urge to go there. "Hell…"  he cursed as he ran outside the inn and rushed to the Church. He stopped when he finally got there, hoping that Cloud isn't there to just say "BOO!" and kill him like he was some kind of helpless horror movie murder victim or something. Cid clenched his fists as he pushed the door open. It gave a low creaky sound.

Cid stepped inside the Church and gazed at the altar where the faint sunlight of the newly risen sun shone down from the skies through the stained glass windows of the Church.

His eyes grew wide in awe when he saw a young lady on her knees, her hands clasped together in a prayer. She faced the altar and stared unblinkingly at it with her wide green eyes.

"A…Ae…" he stammered.

The girl turned to face him and she smiled sweetly. "Hello, Cid." She greeted with a casual tone; though her voice sounded like something made out of echoing chimes which sounded rather comforting.

He could see through her, like she was a ghost… "Heck, she is a fuckin' ghost! She can't really be here… I'm just imagining things… she should already be in the Promised Land!" he thought angrily as he continued to stare at her.

The girl stood up but didn't move to come closer to him. In return, he just froze there by the door but he can clearly hear her voice. "Have you seen Cloud?" she asked with an inquiring but sweet tone.

Cid shook his head. "A…Aerith, I… Cloud… uh… uhm… Tifa… Rufus… Barret… I… Aerith…" he stammered nervously.

Aerith smiled comfortingly at him. "I know what happened, don't worry," she replied.

"Why are you here?" he asked, trying to gather enough courage to speak to the ghost.

"For Cloud." She replied.

"How?" he asked.

"Two ways. Either he dies or I come back." She said before tears suddenly fell from her eyes.

Cid blinked in awe. "Wh…why are you crying?" he asked.

She just smiled at him. "Because I am sad…" she replied before she faded away, leaving him stunned. "What the fuck…" he began. He shook his head in shame as he covered his mouth. "Man… this is a Church…" he thought silently before he took one last look at the altar, remembering Aerith. He removed his hand from his mouth and frowned as he walked out of the Church, thinking, "I have to find Cloud…" 

*** 

            Rufus got inside the ShinRa Mansion with the sleeping Marlene in his arms. 

"President Rufus," Scarlet and Reno came rushing to him.

Rufus frowned at them. "Dark Nation's in the car with Red XIII. Take Dark Nation to the treatment room, she's very injured." He said with a low tone before rushing upstairs.

Reno watched as the President climbed up the stairs with the little girl in his arms. He smiled gently, realizing that Rufus wasn't that cold-hearted after all. 

Scarlet had gone outside to the car but Reno still stood there, observing the two. Finally, he spoke up when Rufus reached the second floor. "President Rufus," he began.

Rufus stopped and looked down, eyeing Reno curiously. 

"Don't mind me asking but who's the little girl?" he asked.

Rufus had this stern look but he answered the question easily with a certain tone, "My daughter."

Reno looked away for a second, his eyes wide in surprise, thinking of ways on how Rufus could possibly have a daughter. Then, he recalled that the girl was Marlene. He turned back to Rufus. "Isn't she that Barret's daughter?" he asked.

Rufus nodded slightly. "I know that. But he's dead. I can't just leave her alone… she's just a little girl. She needs a father to take care of her so I've decided to adopt her." he told him.

"Bu…but aren't you too young to be a father?" Reno asked.

Rufus eyed him annoyingly. "I'll be turning 21 next year; besides, I have all the money to raise this child." He replied with a stiff tone.

"Bu…but she needs a mother," Reno said, trying to control his smile, wanting to hint something.

Rufus smiled. "I know… that's why I'm looking for Tifa," he replied, feeling no embarrassment upon admitting the truth to Reno.

Reno nodded and he finally smiled. "I see. Well then…" he replied as he rushed up the stairs to Rufus. Rufus watched curiously as Reno approached him and gestured for Rufus to let him carry Marlene. "I believe that Scarlet led Miss Lockheart to one of the rooms last night when she arrived here. She looked very exhausted and disappointed about something… and she also looked very afraid of something." He explained as Rufus handed Marlene to him.

Rufus's eyes were wide in disbelief. "What?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. She came here last night. We just let her in… for you." Reno explained.

Rufus hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Take Marlene to the bedroom 5 doors away from my room. Stand guard, don't let Strife touch her." he commanded.

"Yes, sir." Reno replied with a slight nod.

"What about that other young girl who came last night?" Rufus asked.

"Yuffie's in the room beside Tifa's." Reno explained before Rufus finally went off.

Rufus opened the door of the first bedroom in the hallway and looked inside but no one was there. He tried the next 5 doors but those were locked. "Damn," he cursed before he proceeded to the sixth door. He was relieved that it wasn't locked, but when he opened it and took a glance at what's inside, he just felt down. It was the old masters' bedroom.

He clenched his fists as he stepped inside, looking around, scanning carefully each item. Nothing had changed all through those years…

Rufus's frown deepened when he saw the family portrait hanging by the wall on top of the fireplace. He saw his mother with himself as a baby in her arms and President ShinRa was standing beside her, smiling proudly. 

"Dad…" he thought silently. Finally, he sighed heavily and smiled gently at his father. "Even if things didn't turn out well, I'm sure mom loved you very much…" he said softly. 

He wished that his late father could hear him when he said, "I just adopted a kid… I'd like you to know that I'm going to treat her like my own daughter… and don't worry, I won't treat her like shit just like what you did to me before…" he stopped himself and he looked down. "I'm sorry, dad…" the words came out easily like it had been its desire to come out for a long time already. He looked up again at the picture and focused at his father. He smiled gently. "I forgive you," he said before he turned to the door and got out.

He proceeded to the seventh room and stopped before he could hold the doorknob. "Tifa," he thought silently as he gripped the doorknob and twisted it.

Once he opened the door and stepped inside, his mouth dropped open in surprise upon seeing the sleeping figure on the bed. Very little sunlight entered the room from the little spaces in between the drapes so he crossed his fingers as he approached the sleeping girl. The more he got closer, he noticed that the girl wasn't small and had longer and darker hair. He smiled in complete happiness as he flipped his hair before he sat down on the bed beside the girl. He gently touched her face, adoring her beauty. "Tifa," he began.

He withdrew his hand when she moved. 

Tifa slowly opened her tired eyes as she turned to sit up and face him. "R…Rufus?" she asked.

Before he could ask her anything, she just embraced him tightly.

Rufus was stunned, his eyes wide in surprise upon her sudden reaction. He heard her sniff and then exhaled ruggedly, realizing that she was crying. His expression softened and he smiled gently as he returned her embrace and gently patted her back. 

No words were spoken between them for a few moments, but Tifa broke the silence by saying, "I thought I'd never see you again…"

Rufus closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Sorry. I'll never leave you again." He told her reassuringly.

Tifa smiled as she buried her face in his chest. Finally, someone who would love her…

From outside the bedroom, Cloud pressed his lips together in a thin line as his frown deepened. He was seated outside the slightly opened window, listening to their conversation. He looked up at the sunny skies and his eyes narrowed. He wished that he was Rufus and that Tifa was Aerith so that they could finally be together again and he could tell her everything he had failed to tell her when she was still alive. "Is it so wrong for me to wish that you were still alive?" he thought miserably, even though his facial expression revealed nothing but coldness.

With that, he jumped off from the window and landed on the grassy garden. He saw that one of the windows in the first floor was left open so he decided to just enter and finally get rid of Rufus; but he stopped when he heard someone speak up, "Where are you going?"

Cloud recognized Vincent's voice so he turned to face him. "It's none of your business, Valentine," he snapped.

"Don't you realize that you're going to make Tifa disappointed if you kill Rufus?" Vincent asked.

"I don't care anymore. I want Aerith back." Cloud told him.

Vincent eyed him carefully. "Is Tifa your friend?" he asked.

Cloud's eyes narrowed at him. "Of course, she's been a good friend of mine ever since childhood." He replied.

"You are ruining your friendship." 

Cloud and Vincent turned to look at Cid who was standing near one of the trees. Cloud clenched his fists. "She's just looking for someone to love her because I don't. When Rufus dies, she'll find another one." He snapped.

"Easy for you to say, Cloud. What happened to you? You've turned so selfish all of a sudden, you fuckin' pig?!" Cid said angrily.

"Back to my question, Cloud…" Vincent said, cutting them off before they could start an argument.

Cloud turned to him with a deep frown on his face but he didn't say anything.

Vincent scanned Cloud's eyes carefully. "I think I somewhat understood how you felt when you lost Aerith because I also felt it before when I lost someone dear to me," he began slowly with a low tone while memories of Lucrezia filled his mind. He stopped for a while after pulling himself back together, and then spoke up again with an inquiring tone, "And the feeling hurts. A true friend would never wish any harm to befall on another friend; now, would you like Tifa to feel awful if you get rid of Rufus?"

Cloud had this cold expression on his face but he didn't answer. 

They just stood there for 30 minutes without saying anything, each one observing the other.

"Fuck it, Cloud! Say something! You're creeping me out, man!" Cid remarked.

Cloud scanned their faces quietly.

"You think Aerith liked the shit you did to Barret? And what about Tifa? You think Aerith liked that shit too? I'm sure that sweet girl wouldn't! Cid continued.

Vincent looked down to the ground, his eyes suddenly revealing that he has this vulnerable side.

Cloud simply nodded his head which gave out a very vague meaning for Cid and Vincent. With that, he turned and walked away. 

Vincent looked at him again and followed Cloud with his gaze. "I think we'd better follow him…" he muttered…

To their alarm, Cloud made a run for it and got inside the ShinRa Mansion.


	17. Beyond Seven Chapter Sixteen

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there! By the way, we don't hate Cloud nor Aerith. 

Quistis's Note: please, feed me some cheese pizza… ;_; (just kidding…)

Chapter Sixteen

_________________________________________________________________ 

            Tifa and Yuffie were in Marlene's bedroom with Elena. "I am just a little surprised about Rufus adopting Marlene… I mean, it's all so sudden." Yuffie told Tifa and Elena while watching Marlene play with her new dolls.

Elena smiled. "Don't worry, even if President Rufus knows how to make hasty decisions just like this one, he never failed at them based on what I've observed as a Turk." She explained.

Tifa nodded, but suddenly, she had a bad feeling about something. It was a little gloomy outside and she wondered where Rufus was. She insisted that she should come with Rufus to Midgar, but he told her to just stay at Nibelheim and take care of Marlene.

"Where's Daddy?" Marlene asked Tifa.

Tifa didn't know what to answer at first, but soon, she snapped back to reality. "Oh… he went to Midgar to check out the reconstruction of the ShinRa H.Q. He'll come back this afternoon, don't worry." She said with a smile.

Marlene turned to the door and then back to Tifa. "But how come wherever we go in this mansion, the redhead and the bald man are always tagging along? Now they're outside the door!" she stated.

"Because it's dangerous. Besides, you are President Rufus's daughter." Elena explained as she stood up, but jerked when she heard the sound of roaring thunder. Marlene screamed and hugged Tifa. "Aargh! Mommy!"

Elena and Tifa exchanged stunned looks. 

Tifa looked down at Marlene. "What did you just call me?" she asked inquiringly.

Marlene let go of Tifa and blushed as she smiled sheepishly. "Mommy?" she asked.

Elena giggled.

Tifa shot her a warning look which made her stop. "What's so funny, Elena?"

Elena covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laugh as she looked away. "Nothing, Miss Lockheart…" she replied with a shaky tone due to the obvious reason that she's trying to stop her laughter.

*** 

            Rufus scanned the whole area where the construction site was located. 

Scarlet smiled as she scanned the blueprints. "Everything's under control, President Rufus. Soon, you'll be reigning again." She said.

"I don't think that's the right verb, Scarlet," he stated flatly.

Scarlet was silent for a while before she returned the blueprints back to its place near the table of the architect in charge of the design. She felt somewhat bothered by the fact that Rufus had taken her with him to Midgar instead of Reno or any other remaining guard he has. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt so guilty about putting him down regarding Tifa. She kept looking back at the direction of the road leading back to Nibelheim, then back to the car which they used to go to Midgar. She kept staring at the trunk, sensing that something was wrong. "President Rufus, it's near lunch time. I think we should be going back to Nibelheim… besides, you need to spend time with your daughter and your fiancée," she said while looking at the trunk, scanning it carefully.

Rufus turned to her. "Fiancée?" he asked, recalling that he hasn't even proposed to Tifa about marriage yet.

She smiled sheepishly. "N…no sarcasm there, Sir! I meant Miss Lockheart." She replied, feeling embarrassed.

Rufus had this cold look on his face before he turned back to the construction site. "And suddenly you're calling her _'Miss Lockheart'_…" he muttered.

She hesitated for a while. "I know… because… since… well, as one of your loyal staff members, I guess that I just have to accept Miss Lockheart for you… besides, I believe that there is more than meets the eye, correct?" she asked.

Rufus smiled quietly. "I'm glad you finally understood." He said softly.

Scarlet smiled, pleased with herself and the events. "By the way, Your Excellency, I would like to apologize for being a bitch to you and Miss Lockheart… she isn't really all that bad and I just realized that last night when she came up to the Mansion and I was the one who answered the door. She looked so miserable and so scared… I felt pity for the girl so I just had to let her in…" she said.

"You did the right thing, Scarlet." He told her before he turned around to face her. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide in surprise when he saw a spiky-haired blonde making an attempt to kill Scarlet with a big sword.

"SCARLET!" he said in alarm.

Scarlet turned around but it was too late.

Rufus ShinRa watched in horror as Cloud Strife swung his sword through Scarlet's neck.

Cloud observed with coldness in his eyes while Scarlet's head rolled down to the ground, stopping as it bumped against Rufus's left feet. Rufus took a step backward, looking at the head. "Shit…" he muttered as he pulled out his shotgun and aimed it at Cloud. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked with a stiff tone.

Cloud didn't say anything but he just stared at Rufus with cold eyes.

Rufus finally lost his temper and took a few steps forward. "I asked you a goddamn question, Strife!" he snapped.

Cloud's eyes narrowed at him. "Aerith," he muttered as he raised his sword to start attacking him, but before he could do so, he heard Cid and Vincent calling his name from behind.

He stopped and turned to them. Rufus didn't know whether he should get himself into trouble by fighting Cloud or just run away and go back to Nibelheim. He chose the latter decision and rushed to the car before Cloud could see him.

Rufus noticed the open compartment and frowned as he got inside the vehicle and quickly started the engine. "That jerk must've hidden inside the trunk…" he thought as he stepped on the accelerator and drove to the road leading to Nibelheim.

*** 

            Rufus got down from the car and rushed inside the Mansion. On his way upstairs, he saw Reeve. "Where have you been?" Rufus demanded.

Reeve was in awe upon seeing Rufus back so early from his visit to Midgar. "I… I was in the inn this morning and I just talked to Cid Highwind and…" he began before Rufus pushed him aside and rushed up. 

Rufus ran to Marlene's room and everyone stood up upon seeing him. "Where are the other ShinRa soldiers?!" he demanded from everyone.

"Wh…President Rufus? What's going on?" Reno asked.

"That spiky-headed jerk is going after me! I just escaped coz two of his friends interfered!" Rufus told him.

"You mean Cloud?" Tifa asked in disbelief.

Marlene rushed to Rufus. "Daddy," she said with fear in her voice as she embraced Rufus.

Rufus carried Marlene up in his arms. 

"President Rufus, I think you should leave this place immediately before Cloud Strife arrives. Don't worry, we'll take care of everything here. We just contacted the former ShinRa soldiers and they're on their way here." Reno told him.

Rufus hesitated for a while as he looked at Tifa. "You're right, Reno… I have a place at Costa del Sol; I'll take Tifa and Marlene with me… you too, Yuffie and Elena." He told them.

Yuffie smiled at him. "No thanks, Ruffy. I'll just stay here and stop Cloud." She said before she ran outside.

Rufus twitched. "Ruffy?" he repeated.

Tifa giggled despite the tension. "Let's go, Ruffy, before Cloud gets here. He can move fast, you know," she said as she led the way to the door.

Elena took one last look at Reno before she followed Tifa, Rufus and Marlene.

Reno waved at Elena.

Rufus thought that they could finally get out of the ShinRa Mansion, but unfortunately, Cloud was already waiting for them outside.

Tifa, Marlene and Elena shrieked upon seeing Cloud. Rufus just stood there, stunned upon seeing Cloud.

Rude came rushing from inside and attacked Cloud.

Rufus took a step backward and rushed inside again. "Let's go," he said as he led the way to the backdoor.

"How come Cloud's not talking?" Marlene asked.

"I don't know… but I think he already lost it!" Rufus replied as he pulled out his shotgun just in case a surprise attack occurs.

"I wonder what happened to Cid and Vincent…" he thought as they finally reached the backdoor.

The moment they opened it, he screamed in surprised with Tifa, Marlene and Elena plus the two other guys facing them.

Vincent covered his mouth, feeling embarrassed.

Cid stopped. "What the fuck!? You startled me!" he snapped angrily.

"Get out of our way!" Rufus pushed them aside as he led the way outside, but he stopped when Cloud just jumped before him from nowhere.

Everyone saw his blood-drenched sword which made Tifa, Elena and Rufus think about what could have happened to Rude.

"Is he this fast now?" Rufus thought in disbelief as he stared at Cloud and handed Marlene to Cid.

"Go ahead, Strife," Rufus challenged as he pointed his shotgun at Cloud.

Cloud's eyes narrowed at him as he began to position himself to start an attack.

"Rufus, don't," Tifa said as she got hold of Rufus's shoulder. Rufus flinched at her touch but he moved away from her. "Sorry, Tifa." He said.

Marlene frowned and she was already crying. She squirmed away from Cid's grasp and when she finally got free, she ran to Cloud and clung to his right leg. Cloud remained in that position for moments and then slowly turned to Marlene.

"Marlene! Let go of him!" Rufus commanded with worry in his tone.

Tifa clasped her hands together in prayer as she tried her best to fight back the tears. "Cloud, what has happened to you?" she asked.

Cloud looked down coldly at the little girl.

Rufus was about to run to Cloud and Marlene but Elena stopped him. "No, he might hurt her!" she said.

"You're a bad man! Don't you hurt my new daddy!" Marlene hissed at Cloud.

Cloud continued to look down at her. To everyone's shock, he raised up his sword in move to kill her.

"NO!" Tifa ran to them and gave Cloud a hard punch on his stomach while her free hand grabbed Marlene. But it was a little too late for her before she could completely move away from Cloud and his big sword. He was still able to swing his sword to their general direction, and he caused two big wounds in one blow… both on Tifa and Marlene. Marlene got hers on her waist while Tifa got hers on her thigh. The wounds were deep enough to cause too much blood to flow. 

Tifa landed against the hard cemented ground on her back and as she did so, she accidentally let go of Marlene. 

Rufus had had it with everything so he shot Cloud when he was off-guard. Cloud had his eyes on Tifa and Marlene as when he felt the bullet pierce through his left shoulder.

"Not close enough to the heart…" Rufus thought angrily to himself as he raised his shotgun again to target Cloud for another shot. But, before he could pull the trigger again, Cloud spoke up with a raspy tone, "Aerith…"

Tifa tried her best to stand up despite the pain, but she fell back to the ground again, so she just crawled to Marlene and cradled the injured child in her arms. "It hurts…" Marlene cried softly against Tifa's ear. Tifa was already crying as she looked at Cloud and Rufus.

Cloud got a hold of himself as he gripped his sword tightly. He looked up, and so did everyone else when they heard a familiar voice saying, "_Enough, Cloud… let's go…"_

Tifa's eyes grew wide in awe. "A…Ae…Aer…Aerith…" she whispered.

With that, Cloud smiled gently up into the heavens and positioned the blade of his big sword facing himself. 

In a quick motion, he stabbed himself with it.

Tifa turned Marlene's head away from the gruesome incident. 

Elena watched in horror as Cloud fell on his knees and finally, to the ground on his back. 

Rufus, Vincent and Cid observed quietly as a pool of blood formed from underneath Cloud's dead body.

The rain continued to pour down and thunder began to roar again.

Rufus swallowed hard as he approached Tifa and Marlene. He knelt down beside them and hugged them tightly.

"Daddy," Marlene said in between her sobs.

Tifa smiled sadly at Rufus before she hugged him back.

Marlene embraced the two.

Rufus kept his eyes on Cloud. 

"Daddy… daddy, it hurts…" Marlene said with a weak tone.

Rufus moved away from them and Tifa saw Marlene's blood on his white suit. A puddle of blood was already forming from below Tifa. Tifa flinched when she remembered that she had this wound on her thigh. She began to get pale. "R… Rufus," she said softly before she released Marlene and fell back.

Rufus caught Marlene on time before she could also fall to the ground. "Tifa!" he exclaimed.

Elena and Vincent rushed to them while Cid approached Cloud's dead body.

"I'll call an ambulance," Elena said before rushing inside.

Reno, Reeve and Heidegger came to the scene. "What happened in here?" Reno asked as he rushed to Rufus and Tifa.

Rufus handed Marlene to Vincent before he got Tifa and stood up, carrying her in his arms. "Cloud Strife… I know how much you hate me but please don't take Tifa away from me… she's my only happiness now…" Rufus prayed silently as he tried his best to fight back tears while he rushed inside the house. He got inside the living room and placed her on the sofa. Elena was currently on the phone talking to the operator of the Emergency Hotline.

Reno and the others (except for Cid) also came to the living room. They were about to put Marlene on the other vacant couch but they stopped when they saw what Rufus was doing…

He was crying…

"Oh my God…" Reeve muttered in a low tone.

"Am I seeing things?" Reno thought in disbelief.

Vincent just stared down at Rufus with Marlene in his arms. Marlene observed Rufus but she didn't say anything.

Rufus didn't even care if they saw him crying. Only one thing mattered at that moment: Tifa… and as he stared at her pale face and listened to her unsteady breathing, flashes from the past came back to him… 

Blood. Gunshot. Bullet wound… Bleeding… his mother… the little girl… the explosion… the pain…

Rufus closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly upward, as if toward the heavens. "Mom… dad…" he prayed silently.

He opened his eyes again as more tears fell from his eyes. He examined Tifa's wound and it made him tremble as he reached for his pocket and pulled out the pink handkerchief with the initials T.L. embroidered in one corner. He began to wipe her rain-drenched face with it, but a teardrop from his eyes fell on her cheek.

She flinched a little as she carefully opened her eyes, looking up at Rufus. She saw the pink handkerchief and smiled weakly. "So that's where it's always been…" she whispered hoarsely.

Rufus turned to her and he smiled gently. "Tifa," he said in relief.

They heard the ambulance siren from outside.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked weakly.

"You're losing a lot of blood. We'll take you to the hospital." He explained as a small team composed of paramedics, doctors and nurses entered.

"It's about time you guys got in here!" Reno scolded with an impatient look on his face.

Tifa smiled gently at Rufus. "You mean the place where we first met?" she asked.

Rufus chuckled lightly as he raked his fingers through his hair. "Yeah. The place where we first met and the place where you gave me this," he said, handing her the pink handkerchief before 2 nurses transferred her to a stretcher…

*** 

            Cloud opened his eyes and sat up, looking around the place. "Wh…where am I?" he thought silently as he decided to stand up, but he was forced to remain seated when a pair of hands covered his eyes from behind him. "Guess who?"

A girl.

Cloud could recognize the feeling of her hands against his skin. He smiled as he touched her hand. "Aerith Gainsborough?" he asked.

Aerith released him and smiled happily as Cloud faced her. She giggled. "WRONG!" She joked.

He smiled at her, hardly believing that he's seeing her again after so many months. 

"Aerith," Cloud took her in his arms and embraced her tightly.

Aerith's smile softened as she returned Cloud's embrace. "Stay here with me forever, Cloud…" she whispered.

He nodded as he let her rest her head on his shoulder. "Of course…" he replied…


	18. Epilogue

Beyond Seven 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Epilogue

__________________________________________________________________________ 

            "Have you seen Rufus?" Tifa asked Heidegger. "Gyahahahaha! I da know, Mrs. ShinRa. Maybe he's in his office. You shouldn't have come here in your condition… especially the fact that you're going to give birth in a few days from now! Gyahahahaha!" he stated with a stubborn grin.

Tifa flashed him a sarcastic smile as she headed inside the newly constructed ShinRa H.Q. in Midgar. "Let's go, Kitty," Tifa motioned for Dark Nation to follow her.

Dark Nation walked and passed by Heidegger; and she hissed at him as she did so.

Heidegger made a face at the panther-like animal and then turned to the other panther-like animal trailing behind Dark Nation, but compared to Dark Nation, the little panther cub had red stripes. The cub hissed at Heidegger.

He raised an eyebrow. "Gee… Touchy… Gya~!" he muttered.

Then, he turned to Red XIII who was following behind Dark Nation and the cub. "What, you're gonna hiss at me too?" he demanded with a silly smile on his face.

Red XIII bit Heidegger's pants and pulled it so that it tore off. "I don't hiss, I fight back," Red XIII told him before he proceeded.

"Gya~…" Heidegger was stunned.

The security guard and the other ShinRa soldiers present in the lobby and all over the place greeted Tifa with a cheerful, "Good morning, Mrs. ShinRa."

Tifa pressed the "up" button and the elevator door opened. Before she could step inside, Vincent was already there with a blue folder in his hands with a "confidential" mark on the cover. "Hello, Vincent," she greeted.

Dark Nation, Red XIII and their little cub stayed behind in the lobby so Tifa just had to go up without them.

Vincent nodded his head in greeting. "How's Marlene?" he asked.

"She's doing fine. I left Yuffie to babysit her in the Mansion. And you? Are you enjoying your work here so far?" Tifa asked.

"So far, yes… despite the fact that I took over Scarlet's duties in this place. But it's okay… even though I never really thought that I'd be working here again…" he replied.

Finally, the lift stopped moving and Vincent waved goodbye to Tifa before he stepped out. 

When Tifa reached the last floor where Rufus's office was located, she headed straight to the secretary's table, but Elena wasn't there. "Hmm… wonder where she is."

Then, the other elevator opened up and there was Rufus with 5 envelopes in his hands. He smiled as he raked his fingers through his hair. "Hi, Tifa," he greeted.

Tifa turned to him. "Hi, Rufus!" she said as he got to her and kissed her cheek lightly. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at home resting. What if something bad happened to you?" he asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

She chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous, Rufus. I can take care of myself. Besides, I have Dark Nation and Red XIII and their little kitten with me on my way here, but they wanted to stay downstairs." She explained.

"But what if on your way up here my future heir just tried to force himself out of you?" he snapped as he placed his hands on his hips.

"You worry too much. Hey, you said '_himself'_… what if it's a girl? Can we call her Tiffany?" she asked.

He smiled. "Whatever… as long as we can give our dear Marlene a brother or a sister who's not deranged." He said as he led the way to his main office.

He opened the door and boy, they were in for a surprise upon seeing Reno and Elena inside.

"Pre..President Rufus!" they exclaimed.

Rufus's eyes grew wide as he dropped the envelopes. "What the?!" he began.

"We… we just delivered these papers to you, sir…" Reno explained.

Tifa's mouth dropped open as she felt pain. "Uh-oh… Rufus…" she said as she placed her hands over her big tummy. "I… I think it's time…" she said with a trembling voice. Rufus had this disgusted look on his face as he shook his head. "Can't you make out some place else? Why don't you do it in the bathroom?" he suggested.

"RUFUS?!" Tifa wailed.

Rufus turned to Tifa but he still looked a little shaken from what he had seen, though his voice reflected panic. "Oh no, Tifa?! Not now?!" he said as he assisted her.

Elena tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear as she rushed to them. "Shall I call an ambulance?" she asked.

Reno raked his fingers through his hair as he walked past them. "Hey, hey, hey! You stay here until you explain why you and Elena were making out in my office!" Rufus scolded.

"Let him be, Rufus… I NEED A DOCTOR!" Tifa wailed.

Rufus pointed an accusing finger at the Reno and Elena. "I'll deal with the two of you later. Don't you remember my dad's rule that there shall be no honky-honkies in the workplace?" he asked as he carried Tifa in his arms and rushed to the lift. "Man, you're heavy!" he remarked as Reno pressed the down button.

"Honky-honky?" Reno asked with a ridiculous look on his face.

"What does that mean?" Tifa asked, trying to mind off the pain.

"An example is what we had just witnessed between Reno and Elena making out in my office." Rufus replied before he stepped inside the lift and flashed Reno and Elena threatening glances. "You and you! Guard my office, I'm taking my wife to the hospital." He snapped.

"Y…yes, sir," Elena replied with a slight blush on her face.

"Aw, Rufus, you didn't have to be harsh on them! They love each other! Ow…" Tifa winced in pain.

"Hang on, Tifa…" he said with a weak smile.

Tifa studied him despite the pain. "Are you okay? You look afraid," she said.

He shook his head in denial. "N…no! I'm not afraid… why should I be afraid if in a few hours, you'll be giving birth to our baby?" he asked with a wink, but he was trembling.

Tifa smacked his face gently with her fist. "Silly! I can take this!" she told him.

"Ow, that hurt!" he snarled.

She laughed, but she began to wince again when the pain became unbearable. "RUFUS?!" she wailed.

"Okay, okay! I'll hurry it up! Stupid lift! It's slow! Better upgrade the system…" he muttered.

Hours later, Tifa gave birth to a handsome baby boy. He got Tifa's hair and Rufus's eyes and they were very proud of him, the way they were proud at Marlene. Two years later, a baby girl followed who got Rufus's features: his blonde hair and blue eyes.

The ShinRa Electric Power Company had changed for the better, compared to what it was before. Rufus was a good leader and he never goofed off, and with the help of Tifa and their remaining friends, they managed to return the good reputation of ShinRa from way back before Rufus's father took over.

As for Reno and Elena…oh, ya know…

And if you're asking, Rude's alive (go ahead, cheer… :]); he just had this severe injury so he had to remain in the ShinRa Mansion for months before he completely got well.

*** 

            Tifa looked up at the night sky from the balcony of their bedroom.

"What are you doing there? Come inside now." Rufus told her as he joined her and took her hand.

"I was just watching the stars… it's so beautiful out here." She told him with a gentle smile on her face.

Rufus looked up and smiled gently. "Yeah…" he told her before he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You know what," he said.

"What?" she asked as she turned her head to the side so that she could see his face from the corner of her eye. 

He gave her a kiss. "Oh, nothing… I just want to tell you that no matter what happens, I'll never let you go." He told her.

Tifa smiled. "Oh yeah?" she asked with a challenging tone.

"Yeah," he replied with a low tone which sent shivers down her spine. She began to walk inside but she realized that she was dragging him along with her as she did so. "Rufus?! Do you have any idea how heavy you are?!" she demanded.

"No. My fats and muscles are not yet sagging… besides, I'm only 26 years old." He told her as he followed her lead.

She laughed. "Could you release me? We might fall." She told him.

"I don't care, I'm falling with you." He teased.

"You're really serious when you said that you'll never let me go, huh?" she asked with a silly smile on her face.

He chuckled lightly as he flipped his hair and clung to her again. "Yeah. Because what ShinRa wants, ShinRa gets!" he snapped with a threatening but joking tone.

"Oh really?" she asked.

"Really." he told her.

She smiled and touched his arms. "Okay, I'll never let you go either," she told him.

Outside, a star fell from the skies…

-end- 

:) Duh… how was it??? Please read and review (don't forget to give Quistis some cheese pizza… just kidding! ^o^)


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